


The Long Way Back (To You)

by Pearl_Unplanned



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Cap_Ironman Big Bang, Cap_Ironman Big Bang 2015, Cat!Steve, Community: cap_ironman, M/M, Oblivious, Right?, Steve Has Issues, Tony Has Issues, mouse!tony, they'll work it out eventually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-23
Packaged: 2018-05-02 19:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5260640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearl_Unplanned/pseuds/Pearl_Unplanned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After mouthing off to the wrong God of Mischief, Steve and Tony find themselves stuck as a cat and mouse, respectively. Either they work together to get home without being picked off by one of the many everyday dangers like stray dogs, cars, rat poison and each other, or they die trying. And maybe they can just come to terms with how they really feel towards one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! It's finally done, it's finally being posted. I can relax now. (Haha, no. Still got Cap_IM Bingo and NaNo. D:)  
> As just additional warning, there is some foul language in here. If that offends you, please don't read it. It's not much, but it is there.  
> !!!  
> ALSO go check out this awesome art here from [Amaratony!](http://amaratony.tumblr.com/)  
> !!!  
> EDIT: Broken down into 4 'chapters' to make it easier for people to read. :D

 

            As Steve drifted back into consciousness, he tried to recall why exactly he was passed out on the concrete. There was a pain in the back of his head, and a little voice in his mind told him that something was _very wrong_ , but he couldn't place what exactly that was just yet. The previous day's events started trickling back into his mind, and Steve groaned.

            That's right, Stark had been mouthing off to a certain God of Mischief. That's why this happened. He really should've known by now that you can't just make fun of Loki and expect nothing to happen. Though, he wasn't exactly sure why he of all people got caught up in this mess. Maybe the whole team was affected? Regardless, there was a little bit of anger bubbling up inside him at Stark. The man simply couldn't listen to orders! He just went off and did his own thing, which always seemed to put others in danger. And now, because of whatever the hell he'd said—Steve vaguely remembered something about a bag full of cats—they were stuck in this predicament.

            Great, just great. That's exactly how he wanted to start today. Cleaning up Stark's mess.

            Again.

            Steve blinked his eyes open. That's when he realized that _yes_ , something was _very_ wrong. Everything looked a lot larger than it should have. The buildings around him were far taller than he remembered them being, and upon further inspection, they only looked like they should've been two stories tall. They didn't look two stories _now_.

            Taking a deep breath, Steve surveyed the surrounding area. He was in an alleyway somewhere, with unfamiliar buildings on either side of him. His senses seemed to be even more enhanced than before, but he was really small. That's when he noticed the paws.

            Startled, Steve jumped backward a little, not expecting the _hiss_ that seemed to come out of his throat. "No, no, _please_ God, no."

            A broken mirror beside a trash can revealed that no, he wasn't going crazy, and _yes_ , somehow he'd been turned into a cat. Loki, it _had_ to be Loki! The only issue was that he seemed to be alone, which meant that his team was somewhere, alone, probably just waking up to find themselves changed into animals.

            Pausing, Steve thought back to the last thing he remembered from yesterday. After Stark wouldn't shut up, Loki had said something back to him that Steve hadn't heard. But then Loki tried attacking Stark with magic, and he'd tried to protect his teammate... Great. So, chances were, he was the only one like this. All because he put himself on the line to save Stark.

            It still confused Steve why he felt so protective of the annoying billionaire. He just couldn't wrap his mind around why he wanted so badly to help Stark sometimes, so he always just settled on 'he's my teammate, of course I want to help him'. It didn't explain why his sketchbooks had been filled with pictures of Stark lately, but that was something to figure out later when he wasn't furry with whiskers.

            Finding his balance wasn't too hard with four legs instead of two, but the tail was definitely throwing him off. It made it easier to balance, but it just felt so foreign, and sometimes it seemed to have a mind of its own.

            Steve crouched down before he launched himself up onto a dumpster, than quickly up onto the fire escape. He might as well figure out where he was, if he needed to get back to Stark Tower sometime and see if maybe Stark, Bruce or Thor would be able to do something to turn him back. Stark and Bruce might be able to find some scientific way, but Steve was really hoping that Thor would be able to just drag his brother to the tower and force Loki to change him back. Somehow, he doubted that was going to happen.

            Climbing up onto the roof wasn't the easiest task, but Steve found that it was very possible. Once on the roof, he hopped up onto the edge and looked around for the familiar building. It took a while to spot, but when he did find it, Steve groaned. It was _so_ far away, and currently stuck as a cat, he was a bit worried about how long it would take to get there.

            Steve sighed. He figured that he should probably get going, if he was going to make it back to the tower within the next few days.

-x-

            Tony groaned at the harsh sunlight. He didn't remember drinking yesterday, but he felt like he had a massive hangover. His head was pounding. What had even happened yesterday? The battle, Loki, magic... shit.

            Tony opened his eyes and jumped up quickly. He knew that Loki did _something_ —

            "Why am I a fucking _mouse?_ " Tony shouted, looking around. This was bad, this was very bad. A mouse lost in New York City. He wouldn't survive the night. Tony quickly assessed the damage—fur, whiskers, giant ears, _tail_ —before he started formulating a plan. If he was turned into a mouse, getting back to the tower would be quite difficult, but it was doable. He _was_ a genius, after all. Getting Loki to turn him back was another question completely.

            Finding that his senses were a lot more enhanced than before, especially his sense of smell and hearing, Tony headed over towards a gutter drain. There were so many instincts buzzing around in his head, the most prominent being to hide somewhere and stay out of sight. He had to fight the instinct just to make it over to the gutter drain. Climbing up onto the roof of the luckily one story building took a lot of skill, strength and patience, but eventually he made it up.

            Tony sighed. Despite the fact that everything else looked so huge, the tower looked puny in comparison. That could only mean that it was _really_ far, especially for him right now. It would be a long walk for a man, but it was _huge_ for a mouse.

            What were the chances that his teammates were also animals right now? Tony tried to think back to what had happened. Loki was being an ass, so he was just responding... he wasn't exactly sure what made Reindeer Games so angry, but Loki said something about a curse, about the tower, and then... then Rogers had tried to save him. Why the fuck had Rogers tried to save him? They weren't friends. Rogers hated him, and he couldn't stand America's Golden Boy.

            It wasn't really his fault, though, that he couldn't stand Rogers. He'd grown up his whole life being compared to the man everyone thought was dead. Howard loved Rogers more than he ever loved his own son. Tony hated being compared to the Boy Scout all of the time. He knew that he was a disappointment, compared to the man Howard had helped create. He knew that there was nothing he could do that would've ever impressed his father as much as Rogers did.

            So why had Rogers tried to save him? Obviously it hadn't worked, but it angered Tony. He didn't need to be protected by Rogers of all people! He could take care of himself. He'd prove it, too, by getting back to the tower in one piece. Convincing his friends that he was turned into a mouse would be another story altogether, but he'd think of something eventually.

            Tony sighed. At least this day couldn't get any worse.

-x-

            Four hours into his trek, and Steve hadn't made it too far. He found that when people saw cats that they thought were feral and could possibly have fleas or rabies or some other disease, they weren't too happy about being near them. What Steve didn't realize was that people would actually try to kick him or hit him with things. So that's why he was sitting in another alleyway, on top of a dumpster, watching people walk by.

            Letting the cat in his head take over to clean his pelt, Steve waited. Eventually he'd be able to head off again, and hopefully get a little closer to the tower. The sun was going to be going down in another four hours or so, so he still had time. Plus, traveling at night didn't seem like a bad idea. In fact, there was a good chance that he'd be able to travel further at night than during the day.

            "You a house cat?" Steve jumped a little upon hearing another voice. And here he thought that he was alone.

            Looking farther into the alleyway, Steve watched as two large yellow eyes opened in the shadows, and a wiry black cat melted out of the darkness. He looked old and thin, and his tail was bent at a strange angle in two different places. When he grinned, Steve saw the razor-sharp teeth, yellowed, that lined his jaws. The old tomcat's ears flicked as he padded slowly over to the dumpster and looked up at Steve.

            "Well?" He asked, his voice scratchy.

            "A house cat... yes," Steve said. He had a home that he desperately wanted to get back to, and he was a cat, so... Plus, he wasn't exactly sure how to survive on the streets as a cat.

            "Thought so, with all that well-groomed fur," the tomcat rumbled. Dagger-like claws slid out onto the pavement, scratching at it for a moment. "Don't know how to hunt, do ya?"

            Steve shook his head, unsure if this cat was just saying that, or if he was going to teach him. He wasn't exactly sure he wanted to get near the other cat, though. He _definitely_ didn't want to get fleas with his pelt.

            It was back when he was grooming his fur when Steve noticed how long his silvery fur was. It had interesting dark and light markings on it, and it was definitely a pain to clean. Since his fur was so long, it kept getting tangles and snarls in it, and it just felt _heavy_.

            "No, I don't," he replied hesitantly.

            The old fleabag started laughing, a broken purr rumbling in his chest. "I'm sure you'll figure it out." Steve rolled his eyes and got up to leave. "I do have a tip for you, though," the old cat called after him, getting Steve to stop. He might as well listen, if this cat had something important to tell him.

            "Stay away from Bone's territory. He's vicious, and he'd kill a house cat like you if you just looked at him wrong," the old cat called before he padded over to the shadows again.

            Bone? Apparently he'd need to stay away from other cats' territories. Not that he knew where those were, but... Steve raced down the sidewalk, not wanting to give people a chance to notice him. They did anyway, and Steve quickly ducked down into another alleyway. He followed it for a while, watching as the crowds of people seemed to disappear.

            Steve knew that he wasn't going the right way, but he couldn't help that right now. That old cat was right—he needed to know how to hunt. There were instincts in his head that might be able to help with that, and he was starving. The buildings started to look more and more abandoned the farther he went, and Steve knew that the chances of finding some sort of prey here were a lot higher.

            Scenting the air, Steve caught wind of a smell that his brain told him was _mouse_. He grinned—cats ate mice, so he shouldn't have a problem with this. Unsheathing his claws, Steve got low to the ground the prowled forward. The fur on his belly was pressed to the ground, and he'd definitely have to clean that again, but it didn't matter. He'd get a meal.

            Steve narrowed his eyes, catching sight of the dark brown mouse not too far away. Steve pounced, front claws sheathing in hesitation before he pinned the mouse to the ground. Now, he would've been expecting a surprised _squeak_ from the mouse. What he wasn't expecting was when the mouse shouted, " _Shit!_ "

            Pausing, Steve eased off the pressure so that the tiny creature would be able to breathe. He then lowered his head to the mouse and sniffed it before something clicked in his brain.

            "Stark?" It was a longshot, but as far as he knew, mice didn't swear like a sailor, and his scent was... _familiar_.

            " _Rogers?_ Get the fuck off me, you big oaf!" Stark muttered. Steve lifted his paw, giving Stark a chance to turn around. He watched as the tiny mouse's eyes widened and he tried to dart off, but Steve quickly, out of instinct, slapped his paw back down onto the mouse, catching his tail.

            "Let me go," Stark growled.

            "Only if you don't run away," Steve replied. "It's dangerous out here, Stark. If I was any other cat, you would've been dead right now."

            "Thanks for reminding me," Stark grumbled, rubbing his tail when Steve released him.

            "This is what happens when you piss Loki off," Steve growled, taking a seat. He wrapped his tail around his paws. Looking down at Stark was normal—he had to, literally, look down at just about everyone because of his height. But _this_ just felt wrong, looking down at Tony like this. He was just so _tiny_. And here Steve thought that he had it bad, being so small compared to people. How must Stark have felt?

            "I get it, you're mad. It's not like I wanted this to happen," Stark said, trotting off in the direction of the tower. "You didn't have to try to protect me, you know. I'm not helpless."

            "You are now," Steve retorted before he could stop himself. He didn't want to cause a fight right now, because having Stark run off would be _very_ bad. As much as the other man annoyed him, he didn't want him to get eaten by some street cat. Steve followed slowly by his side, noticing how slow the mouse walked. At _this_ pace...

            "I'm _not_ helpless, you just caught me off guard," Tony replied, his little tail lashing back and forth. Steve, surprisingly, could _smell_ his irritation.

            "I didn't mean it like that. You're a mouse, do you know how many animals in this city want to kill you right now? People too—you can't walk through those streets without people trying to kill you. I'm a _cat_ and they've been trying to hurt me," Steve said, wanting to make a point. "You don't have a suit of armor here, Stark. We're both vulnerable."

            "I get it, I get it," Stark muttered. "That's why I was waiting until it got dark before trying to get back. I'm not stupid, Rogers. I've just never been a mouse before."

            Steve sighed. There was no talking Stark into realizing that he was _very_ vulnerable right now.

            "Let's just get back to the tower and figure this out, okay?"

            "What do you think I'm trying to do?" Stark settled down. "I'm waiting here for nighttime."

            Steve glanced over at the trash cans, then back to Stark. Scenting the area, he smelled something that made his mouth water. Eating food out of a trash can was definitely _not_ something he'd normally do, but Steve couldn't deny that he was a bit worried. What if he got hungry enough that the cat in his head took over and killed Tony? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he killed his teammate. Judging the distance, Steve jumped up onto one of the trash cans.

            "What are you doing?" Stark asked, watching him with curiosity.

            "Well I'm not going to eat _you_ , and I've starving," Steve replied, fishing out a sandwich. It was basically untouched—whoever dropped it there must've noticed that they just got a tuna sandwich, and so it went right into the trash can. It bugged Steve a little—they were throwing away perfectly good food, someone could've eaten that! Regardless, he grabbed it with his jaws and hopped back down onto the ground, landing beside his teammate.

            "You should eat some," was all Steve said to Stark as he dropped the sandwich down onto the ground and used his claws to shred the plastic off of it. _Mmm_ , his senses were going _crazy_.

            "You're _really_ going to eat something that you found in the garbage?" Stark asked.

            Steve just flicked his ears and curled up a little, enjoying the taste of tuna. After a moment, he glanced to the side and watched as Stark moved a little closer. It was hard to think of the mouse as Stark, because he looked so much like a normal mouse as he sniffed at the bread before breaking off a piece and sitting back onto his hind legs so that he could eat.

            Steve paused. "Eat as much as you can, I don't know when we'll be able to find food like this again."

            Stark didn't answer, and Steve made sure to keep a lookout for predators. Dogs and cats would both be bad right now.

-x-

            While Tony was thankful for food, he wasn't thankful about being stuck with Rogers. And why the hell did Rogers get to be a cat when he was still stuck as a mouse? That just wasn't fair. But then again, Loki probably did that on purpose, just to annoy him. The bread and tuna tasted _really_ good right now, but that was probably just because he hadn't had anything to eat in... well, a long time. He wasn't exactly sure.

            Tony glanced over at Rogers again. He was _huge_ compared to Tony, and that really bothered him right now. He hated being vulnerable, but he was never going to admit that Rogers was right, and he _was_ in a lot of danger right now. The teeth and claws were what really made Tony's fur crawl. Those claws that Rogers had were gigantic and looked wicked sharp. He was still glad that Rogers hadn't just skewered him before, but instead had given them a chance to recognize one another.

            He could only too easily imagine those claws ripping right through his flesh and bones, or those huge teeth just sinking down into him and killing him. Tony shivered, and Rogers must've mistaken it as him feeling cold, because the next moment there was a large, fluffy tail beside him. Rogers was radiating heat, and Tony couldn't deny that it felt nice, but there was no way that he was going to let Rogers baby him.

            "Move the fur, fuzzy," Tony muttered, trying to shove the tail away from him.

            Rogers frowned, but his silver tail flicked and curled up around the large feline paws, instead. Finally, some space.

            "How do you think we're going to turn back?" Rogers asked. Breaking the silence. He looked uncomfortable, and Tony watched as he shifted his weight from paw to paw. He almost looked... nervous.

            "No clue," Tony replied, grabbing another piece of bread. "I was kind of hoping that Thor might be able to find Loki and make him change us back."

            "How will the team know what happened to us?" Rogers asked.

            Tony rolled his eyes. "Have you ever just had animals following you around? Especially when two of your teammates are missing, and Loki was involved? I think they'll get that it's us."

            Rogers shrugged before settling down again. Tony didn't want to admit it to Rogers, but he liked it when he was lying down so that they were a bit more eye-to-eye. Rogers seemed to like it too, or it could tell that it made Tony relax a little.

            "You should get some rest," Rogers said suddenly, whiskers twitching. "If we're going to be up walking all night, it would be a good idea. I'll make sure other predators don't show up, okay?"

            Tony stared at him, unsure of what to say. Part of him screamed at Rogers for trying to 'take care' of him, while another part of him was glad for a chance to rest. Instead he just decided on shrugging and curling up into a little ball, wrapping his tail around his nose. He opened an eye when he heard Rogers move, but it seemed that the big feline was just scooting closer to him, making it easier to keep an eye on him.

            Tony huffed. He didn't need Rogers to protect him.

            Oh well, he needed rest more right now.

-x-

            "How long have we been walking?" Stark asked for the third time. Steve sighed and padded alongside his teammate.

            He wanted to get further than this. Four hours would give him a chance to get a lot closer to the tower, but definitely not at _this_ pace. If Stark would stop being so stubborn, Steve was sure that they'd be able to get back to the tower sooner. He didn't like being out on the streets at nighttime feeling so vulnerable, especially while his team didn't know where he was.

            "Four blocks, we've walked _four blocks_ ," Steve snapped, irritated. He glared down at Stark, who was glaring right back at him. Steve's anger melted a little when he noticed how red the little mouse's paws were. "Come on, Stark, just let me carry you. I can tell you're in pain."

            "I'm _fine_ ," Stark muttered, though he did sit down for a moment to rest his sore paws.

            "We need to get back to the tower as soon as possible, and if you're injured, that's going to make it a lot more difficult," Steve said. If Stark would just listen to him, this all might go a lot easier. "I want to be human again as soon as possible, and I'm not leaving you here. That's not an option. Be reasonable."

            Steve could _smell_ his frustration. He knew that Stark clung to his pride and ego, but he _should_ be able to ask for help when he needed it, especially from his teammates. Steve would always help him out, if prompted. Stark glared at him some more before he finally caved in. Steve took it as a good sign and pressed himself against the ground.

            "We are never speaking of this," Stark muttered, and Steve barely felt it as the tiny brown mouse climbed up onto his back.

            "Hold on tight... If you fall off, there's a good chance that I won't notice," Steve murmured, glancing over his shoulder. His teammate looked like he was still trying to figure out how exactly he was supposed to 'hold on'. There was a little prickle from the mouse’s nails as he dug his tiny paws into Steve's fur and tried to keep his grip. Steve took a few steps forward, wanting to make sure that Stark wasn't just going to fall off. The tiny mouse wavered for a moment before he pressed himself down and kept his hold.

            Content that he would be okay, Steve started off towards the tower at a somewhat fast pace. Steve couldn't shake the feeling that he should be talking with Stark, making sure that he was okay. After all, things had to be quite different from his end, being as tiny as he was. But the mouse made no move for conversation, so Steve didn't either.

            He was still a bit mad, to be honest. Stark always had to say _something_ wrong to the enemy, and it wasn't bad enough that Loki had a personal vendetta against the Avengers, he just had to go make it worse. Of course, he'd tried to save his teammate, so it was partly his fault, too, that he was stuck in this mess. But if he hadn't, and Stark had ended up turned into a mouse all alone...

            Steve didn't want to think about that. As annoying as he could be sometimes, Steve never wanted to see Stark get hurt. If some other cat had found him before Steve had gotten there, if he'd pounced with his claws instead of hesitating, even if he hadn't been fast enough and Tony had gotten away without him even knowing... There were so many ways that their situation could've been much worse. So honestly, he should be thankful that they were both still alive, in one piece, and headed back to the tower.

            Steve had to stop a few times—climbing onto the roof to figure out where they were while keeping a mouse on his back was quite difficult, but _that_ happened, and they were still going in the right direction... Steve sighed, his tail subconsciously curling around his teammate, who was sitting next to him.

            "He couldn't have dropped us off a _little_ closer to home?" Stark said, and Steve could sense his worry. He settled down beside him, tucking his front legs underneath him. It was actually a very comfortable position.

            "We'll make it back," Steve murmured, resting his chin on the roof. "Just wait and see. Tomorrow night, we'll be back at the tower, and we'll be human again. You can have some coffee, since I know that you'll be needing some more of that, we'll do another team movie, and everything will go back to normal. How does that sound?"

            "...Good," Stark replied. Steve smiled a little to himself when he noticed that Stark was leaning against him. Only because he's warm, Steve reminded himself. Stark would never even want to be near him if he wasn't a mouse right now. Steve's body heat was obviously greater, and he didn't mind keeping his teammate warm.

            Steve yawned, struggling to keep his eyes open. He glanced over at Stark and noticed that his eyes were already closed.

            "Stark?" he whispered.

            "What?" He didn't sound too happy.                                                                                     

            "Am I supposed to be this tired? I don't know how often cats normally sleep," Steve said, yawning again. Rationally, Steve knew that he should get up and get his blood flowing again. They had to get back to the tower, and at this rate it wouldn't be by tomorrow night.

            "Cats sleep a lot... I'm pretty sure mice do, too," Stark mumbled. He sounded tired.

            "Well, if we're going to stop to rest, let's not rest on the edge of the building," Steve murmured, slowly getting to his paws. Stark made a noise of complaint as Steve looked around for somewhere to rest. The roof was pretty bare, so he chose a spot where, if it did start suddenly raining, they wouldn't get caught in it. "Come on, Stark, over here."

            The small brown mouse basically _slithered_ over to where he was. His eyes were only half open, and Steve could tell that he wasn't going to get much farther. Steve curled up around his teammate, letting Stark snuggle up against his fur. He needed to keep an eye on the little rodent, because if anything happened to him while Steve was trying to protect him... Steve wasn't going to _let_ anything happen.

            While he was tired, Steve couldn't get to sleep for a little while. Stark had long-since fallen asleep, somewhere tangled up in a mass of silver fur. What would happen if there _wasn't_ a cure? What if they couldn't find Loki? Or, worse yet, what if something happened to them on the way back to the tower? Bad thoughts kept Steve from being able to fall asleep. He couldn't shake the feeling that Loki had done this on purpose. It wasn't the first time Iron Man had insulted him during a battle. It was like he had been waiting for that to happen so that he could attack them... it was almost like he _knew_ that Steve would try to protect Stark.

            Hmm... It was best not to dwell on those thoughts though, Steve decided, as he let sleep take over.

-x-

            "We've got Jarvis and S.H.I.E.L.D. both looking for any traces of Steve, Tony and Loki," Bruce said, biting his lip. It wasn't any day when Loki decided to pull one of his tricks and make two Avengers disappear for several hours. What was worse was that when they disappeared, so did Loki, and any chances of being able to locate their two missing teammates anytime soon.

            "I apologize greatly for Loki's wrongdoings," Thor said, looking exhausted. He'd been out searching for any sign of Loki since the battle, guessing that he was probably the only way that they'd be able to get their teammates back.

            Bruce huffed. Thor always apologized for Loki, but thus far he hadn't gotten his brother to _stop_ causing mayhem. Bruce had noticed that Loki wasn't trying to murder everyone anymore, and while his attacks were still usually violent, he seemed to be _testing_ them, or just plain old _messing_ with them instead of really trying to kill them. The Other Guy was bubbling right under the surface any time anyone brought up 'Loki', and Bruce knew how much his 'other half' hated the god.

            "Guys, I think we found something," Clint called, running over into the room. Natasha followed behind him, holding to containers, one red, one blue.

            "He left a _note_ ," Clint muttered, clearing his throat. He skimmed it for a moment. "So we found it on Stark's bed, and it basically says that either they'll make it back to the tower, and that stuff," he pointed to the containers that Natasha was holding, "will," air quote, "turn them back to normal. Either that or they'll die trying to get back, or Steve may end up killing Tony. So, uh, good news is that Steve's not evil, so they'll be trying to get back here, but... No clue what it means about turning back to normal. What do you think he did to them?"

            Bruce processed the information. If they had to make their way back to the tower and have that be a difficult and dangerous task, then either Loki changed them so that they weren't human anymore, or he'd shrunk them. But that still didn't explain why Loki was convinced that Steve might end up killing Tony. Steve would _never_ —the Captain was a good man, and Bruce knew that all of the Avengers trusted him with their lives.

            There was no way that he'd just _kill_ Tony. Bruce knew firsthand how bothersome Tony could be at times, and he knew that the two didn't always get along, but Bruce was able to tell that they _wanted_ to, whether or not they knew it.

            "I don't know," Bruce admitted, fixing his glasses. It was a nervous habit he'd developed and had yet to crack. "But I think we should continue to look for them."

            "You believe Loki, then?" Natasha asked. Bruce raised an eyebrow at her in question, so she continued, "We don't know what's in these vials. It could just poison them instead of 'turn them back'."

            "We don't have much of a choice," Bruce said. "Thor, do you think I'd be able to analyze these in my lab?"

            Thor shook his head. "If Loki left that much, they'll need all of it to turn back. I suspect that they're still in the city."

            "If _we_ find them, instead of letting them make their way back here, then we can resolve this faster," Clint said, grabbing a jacket. "I'm going to go look. Uh... what should I be looking for?"

            "Anything out of the ordinary," Bruce said. "They should recognize you guys, whether you recognize them or not, so that should help."

            "Let us search my friends, and bring them home," Thor announced, picking up his hammer before he headed for the door.

            _What sort of trouble did you two get into this time?_ Bruce sighed and grabbed a jacket, following after his team, making sure to alert Jarvis to tell them if Steve and Tony made it back to the tower, no matter what form they were in.

            Somehow, Bruce wasn't surprised that it was Steve and Tony who got stuck with one another. Maybe Loki had seen it, too, and had done this on purpose... Nah, he wouldn't do that. Loki was a villain, after all.

-x-

            When Tony woke up, he was initially concerned at the amount of fur everywhere. Where _was_ he? This wasn't his bed back at the tower, _or_ in Malibu. It wasn't until he hears Rogers' soft snoring when he remembered the previous day's events. Tony sighed, untangling himself from the mass of silver and back fur.

            The tower was still so far away, and the sun was really hurting his eyes. Tony reluctantly buried himself once more in the plush fur. Thus far, things hadn't been that bad, but Tony knew Loki, and he wouldn't have done this if there weren't going to be challenges, right? Hopefully when Rogers woke up, he'd still be thinking like himself and not like a cat.

            Tony was a bit shocked at how _safe_ he felt right now. Who knew that Rogers could make him feel so safe? Okay, so that was a lie. _He_ knew that Rogers made him feel safe. But Mr. America made _everyone_ feel safe, so it wasn't like that was unusual.

            It wasn't that Tony wanted to admit that Steve Rogers was a pretty cool guy, it was that he _had_ to admit it. While he'd always been compared to Captain America growing up, Tony was glad to find that as an actual person, Steve Rogers was just as flawed as the rest of them. Maybe even more so. (Not more than himself, Tony's mind had to point out. No one was more flawed than him.)

            "Hmm, morning already?" Rogers mumbled, yawning. Tony flinched a little upon seeing those giant teeth of his. Rogers wasn't going to hurt him, Tony reminded himself again and again. No matter how much he bothered his teammate, Rogers would never actually _kill_ him, right?

            "Stark? We should probably get moving," Rogers said, and Tony sighed. He didn't want to move, but then...

            "Hey, watch the tongue, buddy," Tony muttered.

            Rogers was acting like a cat, grooming his fur and, because he was hiding in Rogers' fur, Tony.

            "Sorry," he mumbled, nudging Tony a couple of inches away before he went back to grooming himself. Tony couldn't deny the strong urge he had to do the same—his pelt wasn't exactly clean after those New York City streets and sidewalks, but he didn't want to give in to the instincts. He wanted to remain as human as possible.

            "Could you... _not_ do that right now?" Tony asked, waving a hand-paw in his direction.

            "It's weighing me down. If I could, I'd cut a lot of it off," Rogers explained. A few minutes later, he shook out his fur and leaned down to let Tony climb up onto his back again.

            Great, the downward climb. Holding onto a cat's fur and riding a cat's back while stuck as a mouse was _not_ an easy task. Tony wasn't about to tell Rogers exactly how hard it was for him—no, he didn't want the other man's pity—so instead he just kept his mouth shut.

            "I'd like to see how close we can get today," Rogers said, starting an easy pace down the sidewalk. There weren't many people up at sunrise, so it was fine. "I'm not sure that we'll be able to get back by tonight, and finding Loki could take a while, but let's see how far we get. It looks like a beautiful day, so it shouldn't be that hard, right?"

            "Right," Tony replied, though he didn't believe Rogers. Beautiful day or not, they were going to start running into some serious problems.

            Tony breathed a sigh of relief when people just continued to walk past them. Everything was perfect until someone screamed.

            "There's a _rat_ on that cat!" And then the highest pitched scream Tony had ever heard.

            Even Rogers hissed in pain from that pitch. He darted forward quickly, and Tony was barely able to stay on his back as he darted into an alleyway and behind some trash cans.

            "She thinks I'm a _rat?_ " Tony gasped, letting himself tumble to the ground when Rogers laid down. "Do I _look_ like a rat?"

            "Not in the slightest," Rogers meowed, amused. "Is there any way that you could... I don't know, _hide_ a little bit? You stick out."

            "You want me to wear your fur like a coat? Or like a blanket?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

            "Climb back onto my back, but up near my shoulders," Rogers suggested. Tony huffed before jumping up onto the cat's back. He was quite unbalanced when Rogers suddenly stood up, and when he tumbled down Tony discovered that where his shoulders and ribcage met his neck, there was the perfect little place in the groove between his shoulder blades.

            "Well?" Rogers prompted.

            "I'll see if I can..." There was a _lot_ of fur on this cat, and if he just moved it around a little bit right here, he could create a little cubby where he could then cover himself with the fur. A rumbling noise distracted him. "Uh... Rogers?"

            "Sorry, that tickles," Rogers purred, and _wow_ that was a loud purr. Tony was almost _vibrating_ it was so strong. Or it was because he was a mouse on a cat's back. It could be that.

            "I think I'm covered," Tony replied, patting his teammate. He settled down, curling his tail around his nose before he made sure to hold on tightly to the fur around him.

            "Let's get going," Rogers said, and he started heading off.

            Tony was a bit surprised that Rogers was actually putting up with him and helping him out—Tony already knew that it was all his fault that they were in this mess. He couldn't figure out what the Boy Scout was up to—there had to be a reason that he was helping Tony out. People didn't normally just help him out for no reason. Then again, they were teammates, and that might've been the reason, but Tony wasn't entirely convinced of that.

            If he was the cat... well, he wouldn't have left Rogers, but the man was being entirely too nice to him. Was he normally this nice when they weren't arguing? Shit... when weren't they arguing?

            Oh! Those times when Rogers would come down to the workshop, but Tony didn't feel like talking, so he'd just sit there and be quiet company. They didn't argue then. (They didn't _talk_ then, either.) Or most times during the team dinners that Rogers always insisted they should have. (Tony and Clint had started up Team Movie Night.)

            Man, if he'd just _listened_ before when Rogers told him to knock it off, then they wouldn't be stuck wandering through the city, trying to get back to the tower, while stuck as tiny (and itsy bitsy) animals!

            "You okay?" Rogers asked quietly, startling Tony.

            "Fine," he said stiffly. He could smell—fucking _smell_ —Rogers' worry. It was weird as hell, but it was also... intriguing. Could Rogers do the same? He didn't want to think about that anymore.

            "So, uh, just tell me to stop when you're hungry. I'll try to find something, but I can't make any promises," Rogers said. Tony didn't bother responding, instead deciding to just press his face against the silver fur around him and close his eyes.

            It was a long and exhausting day, and Tony could only guess that it was even more so for Rogers, who had done most of the walking. When it started to get darker out—long after their noon break where Steve managed to find something to eat, thankfully—Tony had started walking (read: running) beside Steve, who was really slowing down.

            "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The voice sent icy shivers down Tony's spine.

-x-

            Steve cursed himself for not paying enough attention to notice that there was another cat around. Quick as lightning, Steve was in front of Stark, his claws flashing out, ready to protect his teammate.

            "You're on my territory," the cat snarled. His fur was ruffled and missing in some patches. There were several scars coating this tomcat's flanks, with four jagged ones that ran down the left side of his face. Two large amber eyes watched the two Avengers-turned-animals with an evil look before the tomcat licked his lips. This _had_ to be Bone, the cat whose territory you shouldn't cross.

            "We'll be leaving then," Steve murmured, nudging Stark with his paw. Stark seemed to be a deer in the headlights though, tiny eyes wide and staring directly at bone. There was a thick fear-scent coming from him, and Steve knew that he wasn't going to be walking out of this.

            "Not so fast," Bone snarled, and a couple of cats—where did _they_ come from?—moved to block his exit. "First, hand over the mouse. I'll kill it first, then I'll kill you."

            Steve glanced backward at the cats that were blocking the exit. There were so many of them. Steve's fur bristled, and he knew that it was making him look larger and more threatening. His ears pressed back against his head, and a quiet hiss escaped his lips.

            There were four of them in total. Two tomcats, two she-cats. Bone was obviously their leader, but all four looked very fierce. Steve didn't know how to fight as a cat, and realized that if they didn't get out of there soon, neither of them would see the light of day again. One quick glance at Stark told Steve that there was no way that his teammate would be able to climb up onto his back and hold on.

            His mind was racing, trying to figure out something that might save the both of them. Run. Run away, as fast as he could. He _hated_ running away, but it wasn't only his life on the line right now, and there was no way that he was risking Stark right now. (Or ever.) Steve came up with an idea and acted on it before he was able to figure out of it was a good one or not.

            In a flash, Steve grabbed the tiny rodent in his jaws, keeping the tiny mouse held in his closed mouth. In the same motion, he flung himself up onto one of the trash cans to be able to leap over the cats guarding the entrance. All four charged after him, clawing at his tail and hind legs before he was far off their territory, and far away from whichever direction they had been heading in to get home.

            While he'd been running for his life and Stark's, Stark had curled up into a tight ball. Steve had to keep his rough cat-tongue pressed against the tiny mouse to make sure he didn't accidentally swallow him while he ran. It wasn't until he was sure that they were far, far away from those cats when Steve bowed his head and placed the tiny, unmoving mouse on the ground.

            "Stark...?" He nudged the little mouse with his nose. "Stark? Tony, wake up. Tony!"


	2. Part 2

            It was the claws. It was _always_ the claws. They kept sending Tony back to dark places, every time he saw them. They looked just like blades from his perspective, and blades... They'd used blades on him in Afghanistan. They'd had that cruel look on their face, they'd spoken very little English but they _had_ mentioned they were going to kill him, and they'd used blades. They'd cut him when he wouldn't listen, then they'd dunked him in water and he _couldn't think about that right now_.

            Rationally, he knew that he needed to move. He needed to just run away and not look back.

            But when he thought of doing that, his mind drifted to Rogers, and he knew that he couldn't leave the Captain there to get killed by street cats.

            He also couldn't tear his eyes off of that cat. Bone. Did Rogers _know_ this cat? How could he have known him, had they already met? Surely not, they hadn't been this way yet. They were going _to_ the tower, not in circles.

            Tony tried pressing himself against the ground, trying to will himself out of existence. It wasn't working, it never worked. He couldn't hear anything that anyone was saying, it was like they were speaking another language. All he could hear was _kill_ , _kill_. Tony shivered, his breathing picking up, and he knew that it was a panic attack.

            This was bad, this was really bad. He needed... he needed...

            And then suddenly there were _giant teeth_ around him, and it was hot and wet and Tony knew that he was going to die.

            Images of Afghanistan came rushing through his mind—the cave, the water, the _blades_ —and he couldn't take it anymore. He just... shut down. He curled up as tight as he could, shivering a little at hearing a growling noise. The movement definitely wasn't anything to do with Afghanistan, but that didn't matter.

            He was still trapped in his own little nightmare reality.

            Just when Tony thought it was all too much, he found himself getting dropped down the ground. He didn't move a muscle. If he made a noise, those men would surely find him again.

            "...Stark?"

            If they found him again, they'd get out the blades."

            "Stark... ...up."

            No, he didn't want to move. They hadn't found him yet. But then something was touching him, and he knew that he was found.

            "Tony!"

            Tony's eyes flashed open, and he listened to his first instinct of _run_ until he almost ran into a brick wall.

            Cat's paws surrounded him, and suddenly he was face to face with a very fuzzy, feline face.

            "Hey, shh, you're okay," the cat whispered, and it took Tony a moment to reboot his mind enough to recognize his teammate. "Calm down, I'm sorry, I was just trying to get you out of there, Tony, I didn't meant to cause _this_. Please, just... take deep breaths, you're okay."

            Tony stared at him, calming himself down while trying to figure out the meaning behind his words. 'I'm sorry', 'I was just trying to get you out of there' and 'I didn't mean to cause this' all implied that he'd done something wrong. What had the Captain done?

            "What just happened?" Tony whispered, calming down even more when Rogers started to, like a mother cat comforting her kitten, lick his fur the wrong way. It really did start to warm him up and calm him down, and Tony leaned against the paw that was beside him.

            "You weren't moving, and you wouldn't answer me... I had to get you out of there somehow, and I don't have hands anymore," Rogers said, and there was so much _guilt_ coming from him it was almost overwhelming.

            "What are you talking about?" Tony asked.

            "I... picked you up, with my _mouth_ , and carried you here," Rogers said slowly. "Do you... it all _just_ happened."

            "Oh." It wasn't the smartest response, but... If Rogers hadn't known of his panic attacks before, he did now.

            "I'm truly sorry, Tony, I didn't mean to..." Rogers looked so guilty, and Tony couldn't help but feel bad for him. He patted his friend's paw. (Wait, did he just say _friend?_ )

            "Don't worry 'bout it, Cap," Tony murmured. Wow, okay, so mice were supposed to sleep during the day, and he was _tired_. "Think we can rest for a while?"

            Rogers still looked guilty, and he still had that guilt-scent around him. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Um..."

            There was an overturned box that provided some shade, so he padded over to it and made sure that it was safe. Tony followed after him, and when the cat laid down, Tony burrowed into his fur. There was so much soft fur around his neck and chest that it resembled a lion's mane, except it was silver. Mmm, warmth.

            "Tony... do you want to talk about it?" Rogers asked hesitantly.

            Then it clicked in his mind. He uncovered himself and looked the cat in the eye. "You called me Tony."

            Rogers stared at him, confused about the sudden change in subject, before he nodded. "Yeah... Would you rather I not? Because I don't have to—"

            "I like it," Tony said quietly.

            Rogers paused. "Okay then. Good, I like it too."

            Huh. Tony covered himself with fur again and curled up. "Well, g'night... Steve."

            Forget what he said about the purring before, Tony found it very comforting now. It wrapped around him like a blanket and lulled him off to sleep.

-x-

            "Have you found _anything_ yet?"

            Clint shook his head before remembering that he was on the phone, and Natasha couldn't see him. "No, not yet. It's been a day, maybe they were just... really far from the tower, so they'll find their way back... soon?"

            At least, he could _hope_ that they would. Steve and Tony had been missing for a full day now, and the team was still no closer to finding out what exactly happened to their two absent friends. Clint sighed—he'd been up since dawn looking, and calling their names wasn't helping. When Jarvis couldn't locate either of them within a five hundred mile radius, Bruce had determined that their DNA must've been changed. Thor had suggested that Loki may have changed them into some sort of animal, because apparently he could _do_ that.

            Clint shivered at the thought. That was definitely not something that he wanted to have done to him. So he'd spent a lot of time making sure that his friends weren't left behind while he was searching—none of the critters he passed seemed to 'recognize' him at all. When a beetle landed on his shoulder, Clint almost flicked it off before he wondered if Loki might've turned his friends into insects. The thought made him sick—people didn't even care if they killed insects, so what if his friends had already been _killed?_ When the beetle flew off three seconds later, Clint still couldn't shake the sick feeling.

            "They're Avengers, they'll make it back. Keep looking," Natasha said before she hung up.

            Sighing, Clint ran a hand through his hair and looked around. Where _were_ they? Maybe he was too far away from the tower, maybe he wasn't far enough. If they could just give him a sign, things would be so much easier.

-x-

            If only he'd run a _little_ faster in the first place...

            "Anything I can do to help?" Tony asked hesitantly.

            Steve just shook his head and went back to trying to clean out the cuts on his hind legs and tail. He hadn't even noticed them until he woke up. Then they were impossible to ignore. Tony sat patiently and reluctantly at his side.

            Great, just great. Now it was going to take longer to get back to the tower, because either he wouldn't be able to walk as fast, or they'd have to take more time to rest. His tail, with the mind of its own, started flicking irritably, and his ears pressed back against his head. If only he'd run a little faster, he wouldn't have gotten them into this mess. If he'd noticed the other cats around, if he would've insisted on not letting Tony walk, or if he would've gotten them to stop earlier... There were so many ways that he could've prevented that situation.

            And because he hadn't, not only was he _injured_ , but Tony had a _panic attack!_ He'd never seen his teammate get so _scared_ and just shut down before. There was obviously something that Tony really should be talking about, but he was refusing to, and Steve wasn't going to push him.

            Tony... it was still nice to call him Tony instead of Stark. He liked to think that it was a step towards a better friendship, because they didn't really see eye-to-eye much as it was. Maybe this could be good for them... Nah, there were so many easier ways to become friends than being turned into animals so that they'd have to work together to make it back. That was just crazy. Though, he'd tried talking with Tony many times before, and they always seemed to end up arguing.

            "Steve?" Tony sounded scared, and Steve's attention was instantly drawn back to his friend.

            He tilted his head to the side. "Something wrong?"

            "You... were growling. Obviously not at me, then," Tony said, and that's when Steve noticed how far the tiny mouse was from him. Tony had been inches away before, and now...

            "No, I'm just mad at myself right now," Steve said, wanting to be honest. "If I was faster, then I wouldn't be slowing us down. And, um, if I would've come up with some other plan," he had to bring it up, "then I wouldn't have caused your panic attack yesterday."

            Tony's eyes narrowed for a moment before he looked away. "I don't want to talk about it Ro—Steve." He sighed. "And it's not your fault you got hurt..." Tony shook his head before he wandered back over to his side and jumped up onto his arm, easily climbing up onto his back. "It was Bone that started the panic attack, anyway."

            Steve wasn't sure if Tony meant for him to hear that or not, so he didn't comment on it. "Just stay hidden, okay? I'm going to see how much farther we can get... or, rather, where we might be. I didn't look, I just ran..."

            Steve kept his mouth shut and forced himself not to start purring when Tony started moving and shifting his fur around. It just _tickled_ so much!

            "What, no purring this time?" Tony mock-taunted, and that's when he realized that Tony was doing that on _purpose_.

            Steve shook out his fur a little to stir up the tiny mouse, but nowhere near enough to knock him off. "Maybe if you ask _nicely_."

            Tony snorted and patted his back, telling Steve that he was ready to continue. Steve just smiled and started heading towards where he thought the tower was. Avoiding going anywhere near Bone again would make the trip a bit longer, but they'd survive.

            It was a bit surprising to Steve that they'd spent an entire twenty-four hours together by now, and they hadn't argued about anything yet. Granted, neither of them wanted to argue, they just wanted to get back to the tower, but it wasn't like Steve ever _wanted_ to argue with his teammates. The strangest part was that Steve had been expecting Tony to try to start a fight. He felt a little guilty that he was _expecting_ a fight with Tony, and that he thought that Tony would cause it.

            Did he really think that poorly of the other man? Surely not. He just always seemed to see two sides to him, and he couldn't figure out which one was real. The arrogant, egotistical man who loved being in the spotlight and _loved_ to fight with him, or the quiet, workaholic with a coffee obsession who let Steve sketch in his workshop, a man who apparently suffered from some serious trauma already but still decided to give the Avengers a home.

            Maybe it was a little of both. The insensitive jerk side was the one that he usually showed to Steve, but the super-soldier had a feeling that he might be breaking through Tony's defenses right now.

            Steve froze in place when the tiny mouse bit down on his neck. _Wow_ did he have sharp teeth! Steve was about to growl at him when a car whizzed right past his nose, ruffling his whiskers as he quickly shrank back.

            "Are you _not_ watching where you're going?!" Tony asked angrily. "Or were you choosing to ignore my warnings?"

            "Sorry... lost in thought," Steve mumbled, hanging his head a little. He had to be more careful! This wasn't like him...

            "...No one's hurt," Tony said after a moment. "Just keep your eyes open, okay?"

            That was _not_ the remark that Steve was expecting to get. Any other time, Tony would've called him out on his mistake. During every battle, Tony always made a point of making fun of him when he messed up, or when he said something... He was still never going to live that 'language' thing down. But Tony _definitely_ had a chance to make fun of him right now, and he didn't.

            "Okay," Steve said, confused. He waited and watched the cars go by, and when the walk signal came on, Steve hurried across the street. "...Thanks, by the way."

            "No problem," Tony murmured. "Gotta watch out for each other out here."

            There it was again, that feeling inside him that Steve called his 'protectiveness' of Tony Stark. But Tony wasn't in danger, and he didn't know why he was feeling it. Light and fluttery, like nothing he'd ever felt before. Did he... _care_ about Tony? Stupid question, of course he did. He cared about all of his teammates. But Tony was the only one that caused this...

            Steve cast the thought from his mind. _We have to get back to the tower,_ he reminded himself, _so we can be human again. 'By tonight' isn't going to happen, but we'll get there, I know we will._

-x-

            "I don't understand why you're being so nice to me," Tony said after a while. For whatever reason, today it was uncomfortable, not saying anything to Steve. Yesterday, he'd been perfectly content with just keeping his mouth shut. Yesterday, there was a lot that he was still mad about. Today though, it just felt wrong.

            "What do you mean?" Steve asked. Tony had noticed that he was slowing down, but neither had said anything about it yet. Those cuts that Steve got looked pretty bad from Tony's point of view, but he wasn't sure. Any cuts would probably look bad to him right now.

            "You usually can't stand me," Tony said, frowning. And he usually couldn't stand Steve, either. "The only times that we get along are sometimes when we're fighting—not each other—or during the Team Movie Nights. That's about it."

            "I..." The words seemed to die in Steve's throat, and Tony held tightly to his fur as he ran over to an area where he was able to stop. When he dropped down onto the ground, Tony knew that it was a sign for him to get off, but he wasn't exactly sure _why_. Was Steve just going to leave him here? He was being nice! Right?

            "What's up?" He asked, sliding easily off the silver fur.

            "I don't try to fight with you," Steve said, staying eye-level with him. "I hope you know that. Sometimes, I _know_ that I say the wrong things, and I know that it seems like I want to fight with you, but I don't."

            "Really? 'Cause it definitely seems like it," Tony replied. He knew that he wanted to fight with Steve sometimes. Sometimes it was just seeing Mr. Perfect made him think of Howard and how he could never live up to his father's expectations. Other times he just needed someone who he could argue with, where he knew that it would get heated. He couldn't do that with Bruce without the fear of the Hulk showing up, Natasha didn't argue, Thor was never around, and Clint held grudges. Steve didn't—they got all heated, yelled for a while, worked off the steam, and then could have Team Dinner without glaring at each other the entire time.

            "You're a good friend, Tony, and I don't..." Steve sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. It gave Tony a moment to calm down, too. "I don't want to fight with you about this, Tony. I've liked not fighting with you. It's been... nice."

            Tony snorted. It's been nice? "I guess it would be bad if I stormed off like this. Or if you did."

            Steve looked a bit crestfallen, and Tony mentally kicked himself. The hurt look was quickly covered up, though.

            "I just thought you should know," Steve mumbled, bowing his head. "We should get going."

            Well that was a fast change of subject. Tony shrugged and climbed back up onto the cat's back, settling down in his spot. When did it become _his spot?_ Shrugging again, Tony decided to try to break the silence. "You said only if I ask nicely, so this is me, asking nicely."

            "...What?" Steve asked, tilting his head in confusion.

            "I was teasing you about your purring. I don't often ask nicely, Steve," Tony reminded him, tugging at his fur. Then he said the forbidden word. "Please?"

            In the next several silent, awkward moments, Tony realized that he probably should've just left it at the uncomfortable aborted-conversation silence. After a deep kitty-breath, a low, rumbling purr started up, and Tony grinned as he pressed down against the fur.

            While Steve didn't say anything else for a long time, he kept up the purring for quite a while, and Tony felt like that was a little success there.

-x-

            "I hate eating out of trash cans," Tony complained, tiny whiskers twitching. Steve smirked, amused, as he jumped up to where the dumpster was open. They were lucky to have found a bakery next to a butcher's shop, and Steve wasn't going to let that pass by. He was starving, and the idea of going feral and killing Tony was still bothering him, so he made them stop here.

            The escape from Bone had set them several blocks away from home, and making up that distance during the daytime while going out of their way to avoid his 'territory' had taken its toll, added to the injuries on Steve's behalf. He hated to think that he might be slowing them down, but Tony hadn't mentioned it yet, and neither had said anything about the 'we'll be humans again by tomorrow night' plan, because here they were, trying to find food in a dumpster. Again.

            Steve didn't want to tell Tony about how scared he was to try to hunt again, worried that maybe another one of his friends had been transformed, too. Not after he almost killed Tony.

            "Hey, at least we've got some options here," Steve said, dropping a chunk of raw fish onto the ground. Tony was sniffing at one of the smaller trash cans that seemed to have overflowed with the excess bread that couldn't be sold for whatever reason, whether it wasn't fresh anymore or it didn't meet the standards. There were a couple of pieces of bread near the top of the pile, so Steve grabbed those too before he hopped back down to the ground.

            "This is like a mouse paradise," Tony said, pointing to the amount of bread there. "I wonder why there aren't any other mice here."

            Steve frowned at the comment. He was right, there was _so much_ here that there should've been other rodents around, whether they were mice or rats. "Tony, wait a second."

            He sniffed at the air, then wandered over towards the bakery door. There was some partially-eaten bread there that looked like a mouse had been very happy. But there was an odd smell around that area. He glanced over at Tony, who was still trying to decide if he wanted to risk something sugary or not.

            Following his nose led Steve several feet away, behind one of the closed dumpsters. The sight before him made him want to vomit. Maggots wriggled around on the tiny, decaying body of what used to be a rat. Pure terror flooded through him as Steve realized what happened.

            "Tony!" he shouted, turning around. _Please don't let him have already eaten the poison_ , Steve begged the universe. He dashed over and tackled his friend to the ground, skidding a few feet away, curled protectively around Tony, like he was a precious, breakable object that had just fallen and if he touched the ground, he'd shatter into a million pieces.

            "What the hell?" Tony grumbled. "I'm gonna die of fluff here, Rogers."

            "Spit it out, whatever you ate, just don't swallow it," Steve said, terrified. His fur was standing on end, and his tail was twitching, curled around his hind legs. "It's covered in rat poison, Tony, I don't want you to die!"

            He could all-too-easily imagine his teammate lying over there, maggots eating away at his body, too.

            Tony looked _so small_ when he looked up at Steve and asked, his voice quiet and almost fearful, "What?"

            "Did you eat any of it?" Steve asked sharply. Tony quickly shook his head, and Steve breathed a sigh of relief.

            "Thank God," he murmured, flopping down. He curled a paw around his friend, drawing him closer. "I was so worried... Can you not smell the difference?"

            Tony hesitated a moment before he shook his head. "Can you?"

            "Yeah," Steve mumbled. "I know it's not a pastry, but I've got some clean bread over there if you want some. Or, you know, fish, but I don't know how much mice eat fish, so... I could go find something else—"

            "Sounds perfect," Tony said, standing up. Steve led him over to the food, sniffing it again just to make sure there was no poison. He didn't want his mistake to result in the death of his teammate. The entire time, he didn't take his eyes off of Tony. He couldn't—he was still picturing his teammate being poisoned and decaying behind some dumpster somewhere.

            "Okay, are you going to eat something, or are you going to keep staring at me like you're fattening me up to be your next meal?" Tony snapped, crossing his tiny arms across his teeny chest, like he might do if he was human instead of rodent.

            "I'm not going to hurt you," Steve said automatically before glancing away. "I'm just... worried, is all. There's a dead rat over there, and it could've easily been you instead."

            "Well it's not, so quit moping. It doesn't suit you," Tony replied, concentrating once more on his bread crumbs.

            Steve frowned before he shook out his fur and settled down beside Tony. When he curled his tail around the tiny mouse this time, Tony didn't tell him to take it away.

-x-

            "I swear, the villains must've heard that Cap and Metalhead are missing," Clint muttered, nursing his twisted arm. There was a mutant who was robbing a bank, and then almost immediately after that, Loki was spotted destroying Central Park. Long day. "I swear, when they're back, they are _so_ getting yelled at. Loki's bad enough with the lot of us, but now... I'm still sore from that stupid mutant!"

            "Quit complaining, they'll be back," Natasha said. "It's not like you've always worked with a team."

            "I'm used to working with a team now," Clint muttered, dropping down onto the couch. "When they get back, I'm not letting them turn back right away. However they are, they're going to have to deal with it for an extra day or two. I want pictures."

            "If they were turned into animals, I'd have to agree with Clint... but for different reasons. Science." Bruce grinned.

            "As long as they're human when Loki starts causing trouble again," Natasha replied.

            "He is checking to see if our brothers-in-arms have returned yet," Thor mused. "Does he not believe that they'll make it?"

            "Or maybe he's just seeing how much trouble he can cause before they get back," Clint pointed out. "I wouldn't put it past him."

            "I'll take the first shift," Bruce offered, heading over towards the elevator. Each night, they'd taken shifts staying at the front door to the tower, just in case their friends found their way home during the night. Clint was just glad that he didn't have to take the first shift—his arm really did hurt like hell right now.

            "If you see them, don't let them know that we've got a maybe-antidote!" Clint called after him. He didn't want to admit it, but Clint really missed his friends. The tower just seemed so much _quieter_ without them. What was worse was that they didn't know if Steve and Tony were okay or not.

-x-

            "Doesn't that gross you out, like, at _all?_ " Tony asked, watching the feline beside him as he groomed his fur.

            "The human part of me, yes. That's why I try not to think about it too much," Steve replied with a shrug. "If I was a cat, and you were a human, I'd just make you brush my fur instead. Would you rather I do that?"

            _Yes._ Tony bit back the response before his brain answered for him. "If I was a human, then we wouldn't be in this mess."

            "I don't blame you," Steve said, not looking over at him yet. He had just gotten back to the cuts and was making sure that those didn't get infected or anything. (Tony hadn't smelled an infection, so that was good.) "I mean, I did at first. But it's not your fault that _I'm_ in this mess. It's mine."

            "I still don't understand why you did that. It's _magic_ , Steve, not something that you can just _deflect_ to save the day," Tony huffed. "I could handle myself, you didn't need to butt in like that."

            "I was trying to protect you—"

            "I don't _need_ protecting! I'm a grown man, Steve, I can handle myself! Do you not trust that I'm able to do this?"

            The question seemed to catch Steve off guard, and he stopped what he was doing. "I trust you more than you realize, Tony. You just try to do everything on your own... you've got a _team_. We're not just there for backup. You're not the star of the show anymore."

            "I never was!" And there it was, the anger towards his father bubbling up. Captain America was always the star or the show, whether he was dead or alive. Tony turned to leave, and suddenly there was a giant paw in front of him, blocking his path. Thankfully, Steve had remembered the whole 'claws' thing, and Tony didn't have to freak out.

            "Please don't leave," Steve murmured quietly. "I don't want to see you get hurt, Tony, that's why I tried to protect you from Loki. It didn't work, but it was worth a shot."

            There was a silent plea in his eyes that just melted Tony's anger. It wasn't really even Steve that he was mad at, it was his father's idea of Captain Perfect. "Fine," he muttered, stalking over towards his furry friend.

            "So judging by distance, tomorrow night, or the day after that... looks like a good estimate," Steve said, looking around for a place to rest. When he settled down, he reached a paw out for Tony. Tony smirked a little.

            "Tony," he meowed, stretching for him. "Come here. Come cuddle with me, Tony. Everyone loves to cuddle with cats. If you were human, I'd be forcing you to right now."

            "And you're not right now?" Tony said, and Steve smiled to himself. Tony couldn't deny that he was glad to see Steve smiling again. The tiny mouse padded over to him, and Steve quickly snatched his friend up and pulled him close. Tony couldn't deny that he freaked out a bit when Steve suddenly, apparently, let the cat in his mind take over some as he brought the tiny mouse close to his face and started cleaning his fur, a purr rising in his throat.

            "Steve!" Tony complained, trying to struggle out of his grip.

            "Don't fight me, Tony, you're filthy, and if you're not going to clean yourself off like a mouse would, then I'm going to have to do it," Steve decided. He purred as the tiny mouse crawled up into the fur around his neck and chest. "Well, it's going to be hard to clean you if you're hiding..."

            "That's the point," Tony replied, clinging to his fur.

            "Wait a second, hold on. I want to see if..." Steve carefully stood up, grinning upon seeing Tony still able to hold onto his fur. "Okay, if we run into trouble and you're not on my back, you can just grab onto my fur and I'll get you out of there, okay? And if it comes to it, I'm going to have to take drastic measures again, Tony. I don't want to freak you out, but... that's how it's going to be. Can you... can you handle that?"

            Steve settled down again and let Tony down to the ground. Tony couldn't face him at the moment. "I know, Steve, and I won't freak out. I trust you, and you're not going to hurt me. I know that."

            It was hard to say, but he said it. He wasn't going to freak out again. An unsure look settled on Steve's face, but he didn't say anything more, instead just curling around Tony. Tony pressed against the plush fur and curled up.

            "Y'know... you were right," Tony said, almost not saying those words.

            "Tony Stark, admitting that he was wrong?" Steve asked amused.

            "About the 'it's nice we're not fighting' thing," Tony muttered.

            "Oh." Tony patted the large feline face that appeared beside him with one of his front paws. "I was right. I like it when we don't argue."

            "I didn't say no arguing, I said no _fighting_ ," Tony replied. "We're still going to argue. It's in our nature. I _like_ arguing with you, Steve—we'll still... we'll still be friends afterward. That doesn't happen with most people. Most people hate me after we argue too much."

            "I could never hate you."

            The words made Steve instantly go silent after, but they made Tony smile. Really, even after all he's done, Steve still could never hate him? Well they'd definitely be talking about _that_ later, when they were human again.

-x-

            Tony woke up suddenly. He was tangled in bunches of silver fur, the giant cat head beside him. It only took Tony a moment to realize that something was very wrong. There was a thick fear-scent all around Steve, almost choking him. The large feline was twitching, his tail lashing back and forth, a hurt look plastered across his face. His ears were pressed against his head, paws twitching and lashing out at nothing.

            "Steve?" Tony said quietly. Being a fraction of the size of his teammate was not going to be helpful to wake him up.

            The cat's jaws parted, and a very pitiful animal-like cry escaped him. He was trembling, and Tony realized that step one would be getting away from Steve, _then_ try to get Steve to wake up. Tony scurried off, but stayed near.

            "Steve, wake up!" Tony shouted. Steve was having nightmares? Why was Steve having nightmares? Since _when?_ It was a bit frightening to Tony—Captain America was having nightmares? He knew that the whole team was messed up in their own ways, but...

            Steve's eyes flashed open, a cat-like yowl filling the air as he moved backward, tail between his legs, pressed to the ground like he was trying to make himself disappear, eyes wider than Tony had ever seen them before. He was still trembling, and judging by the look on his face, pure panic and terror, along with the far-away look in his eyes, he wasn't quite all-there yet.

            "Steve?" Tony asked, trying to keep the shock and fear out of his own voice. "You okay?"

            Steve blinked a few times before his eyes finally focused on Tony. His voice was barely a whisper when he asked, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

            "Not in the slightest," Tony replied.

            Steve sighed before he stood up, still trembling, and turned to the side. That's when he seemed to realize that they weren't at the tower. His tail lashed back and forth. "I-I need to go to the gym... I-if I can just c-concentrate on the punching bag..." He trailed off, his eyes squeezing shut.

            "How often do you have nightmares?" Tony asked, needing to know. The image of Captain Perfect was shattering before his eyes, seeing the broken man in front of him.

            Steve looked _terrified_. He looked nothing like the man that Howard always talked about. This was a man who looked like he'd seen too much, been through something awful. _World War II_ , Tony's mind reminded him.

            "At least twice a week, if not more," Steve admitted. He sounded ashamed, and his head was turned away from Tony.

            "I just... I need to go... I need to clear my mind," Steve muttered, though he only started pacing back and forth. He kept glancing over at Tony. "I can't leave you here," he said after a while. "I just..."

            "Come here, I think... maybe I can..." Tony sighed and waved his friend over. Steve gave him a questioning look, but did as Tony said. Tony got him to lie down, though he looked like he didn't want to. Tony climbed up onto his head.

            "Tony, what are you... _ahh_ ," Steve murmured when Tony started scratching behind his fluffy cat ears.

            "That's it, just relax," Tony mumbled, scratching right where the kitten-fur was behind Steve's ears. Steve seemed to melt in his grip, settling down onto the ground. A purr started rumbling in his chest. "There we go," Tony whispered, continuing until Steve had relaxed.

            "Sorry," Steve mumbled. "I didn't mean to..."

            "Don't apologize for nightmares," Tony said automatically. It was something that Steve had said to him a long time ago, the one time that he walked into the lab to drag Tony off to bed and found him in the middle of a nightmare. Steve gave a half-laugh at hearing his own words given back to him. "Why didn't you tell anyone that you've been having nightmares?"

            "I'm the team leader. I'm supposed to be strong, I'm supposed to look out for my teammates. I'm not supposed to have PTSD," Steve said quietly. "That's what the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors told me I have. But I _don't_ , I'm fine. I can be strong, I can be the Captain America that everyone's expecting me to be." He glanced over at Tony. "I know you expect it of me."

            Tony stared at him, mouth hanging open. "I don't..." He did. He always expected Steve to be the strong, perfect example of patriotism and heroism. "I like you better as a human than as a symbol."

            "Not as a cat?" Steve mumbled, looking half-asleep. "And here I thought you'd like me better as a fluffy little kitten."

            "I might have to get Loki to only turn me back," Tony agreed playfully, sliding down onto his paws. "I've never had a pet cat before."

            "Hmm, if you do that, you're going to have to stock up on tuna," Steve said quietly, rubbing his head against Tony. Tony scooted out of the way and slid under the feline's head, reaching up and scratching at his chin, causing Steve's purring to drastically increase.

            "I think that can be arranged," Tony said. He then curled up in the fluff beside Steve's face.

            "As long as you brush me, my fur's a mess," Steve mumbled, hugging Tony close.

            Tony rolled his eyes, amused. "What about Team Movie Night?"

            "Oh yeah." Steve shrugged. "We'll just get Loki to do this again sometime, just... not drop us off in the middle of nowhere. Think the team's looking for us?"

            "Obviously not enough," Tony replied. "Or there's been some trouble that they're handling. They're Avengers though, they'll take care of it."

            "Hope so," Steve mumbled. "Can't wait to get home... Maybe when this is over, we can continue not-fighting. I-I like it."

            "Me too," Tony said before he could even think about what he was saying. It was true though—fighting with Steve wasn't something that he liked doing. It reminded him of fighting with his father, sometimes. And as weird as it was, still being a mouse, moments like these... made Tony happy, in ways he couldn't really describe. It was weird. He couldn't deny that he was attracted to Steve—who _wasn't_ was the better question. Anyone who looked at him would agree that he was attractive. But this, the weird feeling in his chest, was _not_ attraction.

            Strange. Better not to dwell on the fact.


	3. Part 3

            "Okay, so good news is that your cuts are looking better, bad news is that they still look like they hurt," Tony informed.

            "Thanks Captain Obvious," Steve said, glancing over his shoulder at the little brown mouse that was sitting on his back, watching his tail swish back and forth.

            "You’re welcome Captain Americat," Tony replied.

            He didn't need Tony to tell him that the claw marks looked painful. They _felt_ painful enough, but concentrating on something else (like Tony) kept his mind off of pain. It was just another day of wandering through the streets, trying to avoid people while also trying to get closer to the tower.

            "Americat? Really?" Steve purred, amused. It was a bit surprising how well he could get along when they were both trying hard not to argue with one another at all. "Well, Iron _Mouse_ , we should be home by tonight. Ah, I miss my bed so much right now. Sleeping on the ground isn't fun."

            "I'm pretty comfortable every night," Tony said, climbing back up to the spot between Steve's shoulder blades. Steve turned his head and gave the little mouse a quick lick, brushing silver fur back overtop of him.

            "Yeah, because I'm so soft. If _I_ was a mouse, and _you_ were a cat, would you let me sleep in your fur?" Steve asked. He was a bit curious on how Tony felt.

            "Well, if I was turned into a cat and you were turned into a mouse, you'd be one of those little white mice, or the ones with patterns that make people think you're a pet instead of some street vermin," Tony said, snuggling down into his fur. Steve had gotten used to just _purring_ when he did that. "And if I was a cat, I'd be one of those tiny black cats that people think cause bad luck. If you thought you had it bad with people trying to kick you, just wait—bad luck black cat would get kicked all the way across the city. And I'd have short, wiry, uncomfortable fur. But, I mean, _yeah_ , if you wanted to. It might be worse than sleeping on the street though."

            "Oh come on, if you were a cat, I'd see you as... one of those sleek furred exotic breeds, or those rare breeds... Like a Havana Brown cat," Steve said. "Did you know that there are fewer than a thousand Havana Browns in the entire world?"

            "Really? And why do you know stuff about cats?" Tony asked.

            "Because I don't know how you feel about brings pets into the tower, but I think cats are adorable and I think we should get one... or more," Steve replied. When Clint found out that he was a cat person, he would tease him about it, saying that he always seemed like a dog person. Bucky used to do the same.

            "Really though? A rare breed? In a good way or in an 'I think you're weird' way?" Tony asked, climbing up onto his head.

            Steve flicked his ears. "Both. You're a different one, Tony, but that's a good thing."

            Surely that answer wouldn't set him off. Surely Tony wouldn't look too far into it and end up being mad at him. He'd been thinking about it a lot lately, with the little mouse curled up in his fur next to his heart. Tony was special. He was finally starting to get along with the other man, and he was _finally_ starting to think about how he felt...

            "I don't know, I'm still leaning towards the cursed black cat thing," Tony said, tugging at his ear. "Can we stop for food?"

            "Of course," Steve said, looking around for somewhere to stop.

            "Over there," Tony said, tugging his ears in the direction of an alleyway. Steve snorted and tried to look up at him without knocking the little mouse off his head. "Find me some bread, kitty-cap."

            Steve purred and headed over towards the alleyway, grinning when the little mouse let go of his ears and crawled down onto his chest, clinging on tightly.

            Tony tugged at his fur. "Hey Steve, it's a good thing we haven't run into any other cats—"

            A low growling noise brought Steve back to reality faster than ever before. Right in front of him, just a couple of feet away, was the largest Rottweiler that Steve had ever seen. The huge brute was missing an eye. His teeth looked sharper than any cat's before that he'd seen. Steve knew exactly what Tony felt right now, and he was caught like the deer in the headlights, staring down the beast in front of him.

            When the dog stepped forward, its paw crushed one of the bones that had been in front of it. Steve didn't even _want_ to know where those bones came from.

            Steve's claws flashed out when Tony nipped him, but it seemed to be enough to bring him back to his senses. Steve turned and fled, tail tucking pathetically between his legs, fur making him look three times larger than he actually was. Running was hard when he kept glancing down to make sure that Tony was still holding onto him.

            "To the right," Tony shouted, and Steve turned to the right faster than his body could react. His paws skidded against the ground, and the dog crashed into the wall of some building. Steve kept running.

            Steve was panting, eyes wide and fearful as cat instincts flooded his mind. _Gotta run, gotta run._ It felt like the dog was breathing down his neck, biting at his heels.

            The dog's barking echoed in his ears, making Steve flatten them against his head. This was bad, this was _very_ bad.

            Street after street, dodging people who couldn't care less about some street cat getting mauled to death by a huge, vicious dog.

            Steve rounded another corner, feeling the sting of brick as he crashed into the wall stumbling to the side before the dog did the same, both running too fast to slow down. As he crashed, Steve was able to notice the little mouse get thrown from his pelt. Tony rolled across the ground a few times, looking dazed as he tried to sit up.

            On shaking paws, Steve stumbled over to where his friend lay dazed. "I'm really sorry about this Tony," Steve mumbled before he grabbed the little mouse between his jaws once more. He _hated_ not having thumbs. Steve raced off again, feeling that, instead of curling up into a little ball, the tiny mouse clutched tightly to his tongue.

            Steve put all of his focus into jumping up onto a windowsill then up to the fire escape. He dropped the little mouse at his paws before letting out the world's fiercest hiss. A warning swipe connected with the beast-dog's nose when it leaped at him. His tail curled around Tony, pulling him backward as Steve hissed again.

            The dog kept jumping up at them, undeterred by the height. By the fifth time he didn't reach them, Steve flopped down and captured Tony between his front legs before he started drying the little mouse off.

            "You okay?" Steve asked cautiously. He knew what happened last time he did that, and while they kind of talked about it, Tony didn't ever really agree to let him do it again.

            This time though, Tony didn't seem to be having a panic attack, instead he just relaxed against Steve's paws. "Good, I'm good. Not as scary the second time, and I knew it was you this time. Last time I didn't... I was, uh, stuck in a flashback."

            "I would offer you a chance to talk about it, but right now probably isn't the best time," Steve murmured, bowing his head. "Think you can hold on? I don't think that I'll accidently throw you off again. Instead, I'm going to just try the roof, see if there's a way to get down... elsewhere. What if you were a dog instead of a mouse? Would you have tried to chase me?"

            "Probably," Tony admitted, climbing up onto Steve's shoulders. "I mean, you tried to eat me, of course I'm going to chase you."

            "I was _hunting_ , and you just happened to be there," Steve said, hissing and puffing up when the dog's paw caught the fire escape. "Okay, forgot he was there. Let's go."

            "You would be a golden retriever," Tony decided as Steve climbed the stairs to the roof. "Brave, loyal, loveable. Suits you, right? Plus they're pretty big dogs, so they've got some force behind them. Like you."

            "Hmm..." Steve laid down, letting the little mouse off his shoulders. Steve then hopped up onto the edge of the rooftop and looked down, finding that the dog was trying to follow them. "We might need to stay here for a while."

            "Eh, I don't care. Not like it's raining or anything," Tony said, shrugging. "So, what about me?"

            "You... as a dog," Steve said, frowning. "There's so many choices!"

            "Pick one," Tony said.

            "If I _had_ to choose," Steve said, continuing to look for another way to get back to the ground without being mauled by the dog, "I think I'd have to go with... Border collie. Loyal, smart, hard-working. I think that suits you."

            "Not one of those little yippy dogs, like a Chihuahua?" Tony asked.

            "Would you rather be a Chihuahua? Those little dogs really have personality," Steve laughed. He paused and paced on the edge of the roof. "Hey Tony? Do you think...? I mean, I think I can get over to that rooftop, but I'm worried that you might fall off if you just stay on my back..."

            "So you're asking to pick me up in your mouth again, like a _cat_ would?" Tony asked, and Steve bit his tongue. He knew that it was a bad idea to suggest it, but he didn't want to risk Tony's safety by accidently letting him fall.

            "I mean, I would carry you if I was human right now, but I'm not, I don't have thumbs," Steve said, pacing again. "I don't want to risk your safety, Tony, can't you see that?"

            "I didn't say _no_ ," Tony said quickly, and Steve looked sharply over at him. Wait... so that was a yes then?

            "We could stay here for now, if you'd rather," Steve offered. "You... you never did talk to me about why you were having a panic attack, and I really don't want you to have another one."

            "I don't want to talk about it," Tony said sharply, though only moments later the angry look on his face disappeared. "Unless you want to talk about your nightmares too."

            Steve was so shocked that his mouth actually fell open. Tony raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. "Yeah, I can do that. Yeah, uh, let's..." Steve glanced down at the dog once more before wandering over towards the locked roof-door. "Okay Tony, over here."

            "Right now?" Tony groaned, but he did wander over to Steve's side. "First though, before this... Instincts. The more time we spend like this, the more rodent instincts are in my head. What about you?"

            "I can agree with you a _thousand_ percent," Steve laughed. "I can't... _think_ without fighting off those instincts. For example, I want to get back to the tower so that I can make someone brush me fur, and I couldn't _move_ when you were petting me before, and I can't control the purring when it starts, and when I look at you... part of me wants to care for you like you're my kitten, and another part of me wants to chase you... but not kill you," Steve added quickly. "I wouldn't ever do that, but... You're not scared of me, right? I mean, are your instincts telling you to run away from me?"

            "Every second of every day thus far," Tony replied, curling up beside him. "But I can get past that one."

            "What else?"

            "I... want to make a burrow. But I can't, we're moving every day, and I _can't do that_..." Tony quieted down. Steve frowned and wrapped a paw around Tony, pulling him closer.

            "You want to make a burrow, and I want to claim a territory," Steve murmured, grinning when Tony looked at him, surprised, like he hadn't been expecting Steve to admit something like that.

            "You're not looking to claim some mate, right?" Tony asked. There was a seriousness in his eyes that caught Steve off guard. Did Tony really care if he wanted to or not? His heart swelled a little.

            "Well, I haven't been put in the situation yet," Steve said, his whiskers twitching, "but no, Tony, I'm not looking to claim a mate right now. I'd prefer waiting until I'm human to do that."

            Tony snorted. "Now would be a bad time to have kittens... currently there are no pets allowed in the tower, and if I knew that you and the cat had done the dirty, _that_ would just freak me out."

            "I could ask you the same thing," Steve muttered, though he couldn't hide the grin on his face. "I would be disgusted with eating food out of the trash as a man, but right now instinct is telling me that actually finding something is amazing."

            "Me too... instinct is telling me to eat a lot more disgusting... _things_ while you're trying to find me bread," Tony said with a laugh. Steve watched as the tiny mouse kept moving towards him with every question and every response until he was curled up in the fur around his chest. Steve watched in amusement as Tony rearranged his fur to create his own little 'burrow' in Steve's fur.

            "So," Steve said, nudging the little rodent with his nose. "Tony, you know what we were _going_ to talk about? What exactly caused your panic attack from earlier?"

            Tony looked like the change in subject had physically hurt him, and he seemed a lot more reserved as he answered, "Just stuff to do with my past is all."

            " _Tony_ , you promised... If it wasn't what I did, what caused it? Because I don't want to be the trigger of another panic attack, not now, not ever," Steve said. "I... I want to be there to help you with this, Tony, I _know_ had bad panic attacks can be. I used to get them when I was little. My mother was a strong women, but she had a poor choice in men after my father died, and some of those men... I tried standing up for my mother, and many, many times I took the abuse for her, without her knowing most of the time. Bucky used to have to get me out of fights not because I was too weak to put up a fight, but because I used to have panic attacks sometimes, when they hurt me. I know what it's like to not be able to breathe, because you just _know_ that you can feel his hands around your throat, because you can feel the bruises forming and the bones breaking—"

            "Or the knives cutting into your body," Tony whispered. He was shivering, Steve curled around him some, wanting to protect him from all villains, whether they were in front of him or in his head.

            "Who did it to you?" Steve asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

            "Afghanistan... you heard about that, right?" A nod. "What they didn't tell anyone was what I refused to talk about. I've got... triggers, okay? Like... they had these wicked sharp knives, and from my point of view, those claws of yours look _very_ similar, okay?"

            "So when you were staring at Bone..."

            "It wasn't him, it was his claws. And his teeth. Everything looks gigantic to me, so..." Tony shrugged. "So, uh, I was trapped... in a hallucination. Flashback. With the knives."

            "And I just grabbed you while you were doing that," Steve whispered. "I'm sorry Tony, I should've recognized your panic attack—"

            "Not your fault, I wasn't moving, you saved me from certain death," Tony said, and Steve hated how he was just blowing it off like it wasn't something important. "And for that, I thank you."

            "You don't need to thank me, I thought I made you have a heart attack," Steve said, sighing. "I... you know that if you come to me, or if you don't mind... I could always help you. I mean... I know you probably don't want my help, but, y'know, if you ever... maybe feel like you do."

            "You're just trying to avoid talking about the fact that you had nightmares last night, and you've been having chronic nightmares for... how long now?" The quick, sharp change in subject told Steve that Tony _really_ didn't want to talk about it.

            "Ever since... they got bad after Bucky died," Steve admitted. Tony had been brave, opening up about things that he didn't want to talk about, so the least he could do was show as much courage as Tony was and talk about what was hurting him. It was hard to say Bucky's name, and probably always would be, but his chest felt a little lighter after he got that weight off of it and finally said something to _someone_. And... he _trusted_ Tony, which was strange. He didn't realize that he could trust Tony with something that personal. "The war, the brutality of everything, all of the soldiers that died all around me, and then _Bucky_..." he continued, feeling like he could say anything right now. "And then the ice... Do you know how hard it is to get a shower when you crash down into the ocean?"

            "Baths are near impossible too," Tony murmured, bitterness in his voice, "after terrorists decide that a half-drowned Stark is better than one that's already bled out. You haven't been able to take a bath either, have you?"

            "Not yet," Steve admitted. He hated admitting to weakness, but he couldn't start lying now.

            This open side of Tony was something he hadn't ever seen before.

            "When we get back to the tower, we could go have one, you know, and help each other get past the whole water phobia," Tony said, and if Steve was human, he would've been blushing by now. Tony's words seemed to catch up with him. "Shit, I mean—no, that sounds bad—shit, forget I even said anything."

            Steve blinked a few times, biting back his response of, "sounds nice," before Tony added that ending idea on. Instead, he just settled on, "Tony... language."

            Tony's full, confused attention was on him, little beady eyes wide and surprised. After a few moments of staring, Tony's whiskers twitched, and he let out a laugh. "You're claiming it as your own now?"

            "You forced me to," Steve laughed, pressing his nose to Tony's back. He took a slow, deep breath before he nudged Tony to his feet. "Come on, on your feet. The dog's got to be gone by now, and I remember someone saying something about how hungry he was."

            Tony groaned and flopped back down onto the ground dramatically. "I don't wanna _move_ , Steve."

            "I'll carry you, if you'll let me..." Steve offered, padding over to see if the dog had left. Thankfully the beast seemed to have given up for now, but Steve wasn't going to take any chances.

            "Yeah, that's fine," Tony said, standing up and stretching his tiny mouse legs. "Fine. Just, uh, don't accidently eat me. We've come so far that that would really suck right now. Got it?"

            "I'm careful," Steve said quickly. "I wouldn't ever let that happen, Tony, I'm careful. You don't have anything to worry about." Then the trust-testing question of whether or not he'd have to find another way to get away from the beast-dog. "Do you trust me?"

            Steve searched Tony's face, trying to find if he was going to be honest, or if he was going to just lie about it. He put all of his hope into believing that Tony wasn't going to lie to him, not now, not after everything they'd said to one another. Tony looked back at him with an open face, and like he'd never told a lie in his life he answered, "I trust you with my life, Steve."

            Steve's heart and chest filled up with pride and, dare he say, _love_ , when Tony said those words. Words just didn't even come to him, and it took a lot just to say, "Thank you," in a tiny, quiet voice.

            Steve was as gentle as he could be as he picked up Tony and hopped over to the next building's roof, then the next before he climbed down the fire escape and placed Tony onto the ground. He then leaned down enough to let Tony climb up onto his back.

            "Okay fluffy, time to find some food," Tony decided, tugging on his ears as he climbed up onto Steve's head. "Drop me off at the nearest trash can and I'll see what I can find."

            "You know that I'm not letting you touch anything until I make sure that it doesn't have any rat poison on it," Steve replied, finding a better-smelling alleyway. It was sad that he had to resort to 'better-smelling alleyway', but... It was true. He'd do what he had to do until they got back to the tower.

            "I can't wait 'till we get home," Tony murmured, balancing on the edge of a trash can. Steve watched him with careful eyes, not wanting him to fall down.

            Impressed with how graceful and nimble he felt as a cat, Steve hopped up onto a closed trash can close by. As he sorted through the trash, Steve made sure to keep an eye on his little rodent friend, and keep an eye out for that huge beast of a dog that apparently lived in the city. (How had he never noticed these stray animals before?)

            Steve had gotten used to the odd conversations that they'd been having while walking around through the city—what kind of dog would you be, for example. "I think we should get a cat."

            "You... what?" Tony asked, and Steve made sure to quickly grab him before he fell into the trash can.

            "A cat," Steve repeated, purring when the little mouse snuggled into the fur on his shoulders. "I think we should get a cat for the tower. Or a couple."

            "A _couple_ cats?" Tony asked, and Steve pulled out a partially-eaten hotdog from the trash can.

            "Yeah, there are plenty of cats that need homes. I'm sure there's a local shelter somewhere nearby, if there are this many feral ones on the streets," Steve said, hopping down onto the ground. "Just think about it, okay?"

            "What if I wanted a mouse?" Tony argued. "Your cats would eat it."

            "Not if you keep it in a good cage," Steve replied. Steve curled up and let Tony off his shoulder so that he could get some of the hotdog. "I don't think I really want to get a dog right now, unless it was a little dog... a really little dog."

            "Or one of those dogs that always looks happy," Tony said, sitting back onto his hind legs so that he can nibble on some bread. "I could handle a happy looking dog, as long as it doesn't look like that beast that tried to maim us."

 -x-

            "Steve, Steve wake _up!_ " Tony shouted. He was curled up in Steve's fur, or at least he _had_ been, until Steve started twitching more than normal. Eventually Tony realized that it was a nightmare, one of those nightmares that Steve had multiple times a week that he really should've said something about. Steve was twitching and making whimpering noises, and Tony had managed to climb up onto his shoulder, right behind where his ears were flattened against his head, and start shouting at him.

            "Steve, if you don't listen to me...!" He didn't have a real threat, but he couldn't seem to get Steve awake. Maybe if he scratched behind Steve's ears and tried to get him to calm down and relax, maybe that would help. Tony didn't get a chance to do that, though, because Steve jumped up onto his paws. His claws flashed out, digging into the concrete. Tony barely managed to hang onto his fur.

            Short, quick breaths came from Steve as he looked around wildly. His fur was all fluffed up around Tony, standing up on ends.

            "Tony?" he called out quietly.

            "On your shoulder," Tony said, patting his fur. It caused Steve to jump a little, but then he quickly laid down onto the ground to let Tony off his back.

            "I'm sorry," Steve whispered, his eyes wide and scared. "I'm sorry. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

            "Of course not," Tony replied. "Wanna talk about it?"

            "Not really," Steve murmured, sighing. He looked up at the sky. The moon was still glowing against a black background. "Mind if I started walking now? You've fallen asleep on my back before."

            "Sure..." Tony murmured. He'd gotten quite used to climbing up onto Steve's back. "Sure you don't want to talk about it?"

            "We already did," Steve said quietly, shaking his head before he started walking in the direction of the tower. "We already talked about it. I don't need to talk about it anymore. It's just... I haven't..." Steve took a deep breath, and Tony waited for him to organize his thoughts. "I've never talked with anyone about my nightmares before. I've never mentioned them to another person before."

            "Good news, I'm not another person, I'm a mouse," Tony pointed out, grinning when Steve started purring with laughter.

            "Point taken," Steve said, and Tony could hear the smile in his voice. "It's just... S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors used to ask me if I had nightmares, and they told me that I had PTSD. But I never spoke about the nightmares. I... I still can't believe I opened up to you like that. I'm glad that I did, because I do trust you, a lot. I just have never... I spoke with Bucky back when we were young, but then I lost him and... It feels nice to have someone to talk to again."

            "Whenever you want to talk, I can always lend an ear. While it may not look like I'm paying attention when you're talking in the lab, I am," Tony said, rearranging Steve's fur again. Hmm, Steve was really warm. "I mean, you spend a lot of time in the lab anyway, so if you ever want to talk, I'll always be up for it."

            "I like spending time with you, Tony. It's relaxing," Steve said, and he sounded happier again.

            "Relaxing? You think being around me is relaxing?" Tony laughed. "Well that's a first."

            "I know the _real_ you, the one that you like to hide from people," Steve explained, taking the shortcut through Central Park. "Not that mask that you always put on. But you hide yourself from me most of the time. And I hide behind the image of Captain America, I know I do. But when we do spend some time together, just as _us_ , that's when I'm relaxed." Steve glanced over his shoulder at Tony. "What about you?"

            "Yeah... I'd like it if we could do it more often," Tony said, snuggling back down into Steve's fur. "It would be a nice change. I can only imagine what the team will say."

            The pavement turned into grass, and a purr rose in Steve's throat. "Oh, this feels so much nicer. Pavement really starts to hurt after a while."

            "Sorry... I'll give you a foot massage when we're human again," Tony murmured. "I think I'll be able to figure that out."

            Steve laughed. But then he sniffed the air and frowned. "I think it's going to rain. You might want to grab a leaf or two, it might keep you dry."

            "We can stop for tonight," Tony offered.

            "No," Steve said quickly. "I just... I need to keep walking. We're not that far away right now, so it won't be much longer. Tomorrow night and we could be home with some hot chocolate and a movie and something brand new to eat. Hopefully. Every time one of us says that, we always end up in more trouble."

            Steve laid down and let Tony gather a couple leaves right before the rain started up. Tony decided that, as a mouse, his best bet was to sit on the cat's head and hold the leaves up so that it might make it a little easier for Steve, who was currently being soaked. Tony shivered a little, slightly damp, but the leaves did manage to keep most of the water off of him. Tony glanced guiltily over to Steve.

            Steve had this emotionless mask on, and Tony knew that he was fighting against fear.

            "Hey, so in my lab, I was working on some pretty cool updates for the team," Tony said, wanting to give Steve something else to focus on. "I was trying to figure out how to make you a better suit so that it's more difficult to cut or damage the suit, thus better protecting you. And you know how Bruce and I have been working on making pants for him that wouldn't rip apart? So we just figured out how to do that, which is awesome for Bruce because he hates turning back when his pants just fell down."

            "Did you make those new arrows that Clint keeps talking about?" Steve asked. He must've known that Tony was just trying to keep his mind off of the rain, but Tony was glad that it was working.

            "I did," Tony said. "There are ones that explode, and others that shoot nets, and one that works like a grappling hook if none of us are close enough to catch him if he falls. There's this other one that works like a boomerang—"

            "Are you sure that's a good idea? What if it hit him?" Steve asked, finding a dry spot under a bench. Tony slid off his back—literally, since Steve's fur was so slick and wet. Steve's eyes looked a little more feline than usual as he started grooming his wet fur, but Tony didn't think much of it. Instead he worked on cleaning off his own fur.

            "He's too quick to let it hit him," Tony said once he was cleaned off. Well, not completely, but he didn't like letting the rodent in his head take too much control over him.

            "He does have amazing reflexes," Steve agreed, flopping down before he grabbed Tony with his forepaws and started licking him. "You're still all wet," Steve purred in amusement. "You've got such a smaller pelt than me, how are you still all wet?"

            "I knew you'd grab me," Tony replied, closing his eyes and relaxing against the rhythmic strokes of the cat's rough tongue. "How do we run into so much trouble? Things would've been so much easier if we were closer to the tower and could get back sooner... or if we didn't run into those cats, or that dog, or any of the other shit that we've had to put up with."

            "If we didn't go through all that," Steve murmured, his whiskers twitching before he curled around the tiny mouse, "then right now we'd still be arguing, you'd still be Stark, and I'd still be Rogers. Right?"

            Tony crawled up into the cat's fur, listening to the soft purr that rose in Steve's throat. "Probably. I mean, eventually one day we would've stopped and realized that we're good friends, and we shouldn't argue like this. Right? We're not stupid, and we don't hate each other. I'm sure it would've worked out."

            "But _this_ way we're being nice to one another and not arguing _now_ instead of _later_ ," Steve pointed out, resting his feline chin partially on top of the little mouse. "I'm... I'm kind of glad this happened, Tony. If I could've been the mouse, and you could've been the cat, I'd trade places with you. I know that you don't like being this small, but I promise, it won't be for much longer."

            "Eh, I don't mind that much anymore," Tony sighed. It wasn't really a lie, because he _was_ getting used to this. If he didn't have to be a tiny little mouse anymore, he wouldn't be, but things weren't that bad right now. But Steve was protecting him, and Tony felt safe. That's when Tony realized that Steve always made him feel safe.

            "Good, 'cause I'm going to protect you," Steve murmured, rubbing his furry face against the little mouse. He sounded so tired that Tony was surprised that he was still awake right now. "Mine," he mumbled. "Nothing'll hurt you..."

            "Uh, Steve, pal, are you trying to tell me something?" Tony joked. Mine. Why would Steve say that? Perhaps it was one of those cat instincts. Claiming his territory or something. And Tony was his friend, right, so of course Steve would claim him, and all the other Avengers, too.

            He was going to have to ask Steve about that in the morning, because judging by the quiet cat-snoring, the super-soldier had already passed out. Tony sighed, curling up in the plush fur. He'd definitely have to figure out a way to help Steve once they were humans again so that Steve wouldn't have to deal with those nightmares every other night or so. There had to be a way to help him with that, even if it meant staying up with him and chatting about something else entirely until Steve was able to fall asleep again.

 -x-

            "Almost home," Steve murmured, stretching his legs as he headed over towards where he might be able to find some food. Sleeping under a park bench while there was rain wasn't the best idea. His joints were sore, and he was a bit tired, but he just wanted to get Tony back to the tower, because he would sleep for hours once he had a bed or couch to sleep on. He wasn't picky at the moment.

            "Once we're back, I'm going to sleep for the rest of the day, all night, and then I _need_ to go work in my lab," Tony said. Steve hated to admit that it felt normal for the small, comfortable weight of the mouse to be on his back, but it did feel normal.

            "Mind if I stick around?" Steve asked. He felt like he still needed to ask, because while there hadn't been any arguing, he still felt like he needed Tony's permission. After all, his lab was his sanctuary, and no one was allowed to just invade his privacy whenever they felt like it. That had always been a rule, since Tony let all of the team stay at the tower. They were allowed to go wherever they want, whenever they wanted to, except in Tony's lab. That was the one off-limit room unless you were invited.

            After what Steve felt was too long—perhaps he shouldn't have asked—Tony finally replied, "Sure. I mean, I've got nothing interesting going on, probably just some suit upgrades, but if you really wanted to just come and talk, you could. I typically never say no to friendly company."

            "Just thought I'd ask," Steve said. "Thought I should, since you always went there to find some peace away from everyone. Guess I'd just be invading your privacy some."

            "After what we've been through, you don't need to ask," Tony laughed. He hopped off of Steve's back to where there was an overturned trash can while Steve checked the large dumpster. Tony knew by now not to touch anything until he knew for sure that there wasn't any poison on anything.

            "I wasn't sure," Steve replied, not finding anything interesting. He wandered back over to Tony, making sure that the little mouse hadn't gotten into any trouble. Luckily, Tony had listened, and he was now patiently sitting beside what might be a little bit of 'good food'.

            "There isn't really anything extremely interesting right now... but I swear, I do smell something! I just can't find it," Tony muttered, and Steve placed a paw in front of him to keep him from moving forward.

            "I'll see if I can find it, okay? I don't want there to be any chance of poison," Steve murmured, snaking his way forward between the garbage cans. He was able to block out most if not all of the bad smells coming from the cans. There was a hint of something nice behind it, something that smelled like peanut butter and tuna fish (which would be a strange pair any other day, but today it just smelled _divine_ ).

            "Anything?" Tony called to him.

            "I think so," Steve murmured, finding the peanut buttered fish. He took a few more steps towards it before suddenly there was something big and metal slamming down and locking all around him. A loud hiss escaped his lips, and a few moments later, Tony was scurrying back to see what happened to him. Steve growled and lashed out with his claws, not surprised that they didn't break the metal bars.

            "What happened?" Tony asked, finally getting over to where he was. Tony whiskers twitched as he laughed. "Think you can get it open, fluffy?"

            "I'm not sure," Steve growled, hating that he wasn't even able to turn around. He struggled for a minute before promptly giving up. "I think I'm stuck. Do you see some sort of latch or something?"

            "There's... a little light on, which probably isn't good, but I don't see a latch, either," Tony said, though because the bars weren't too small, he was easily able to squeeze into the cage.

            "Stay still, I'm gonna see if there's a latch over here," Tony said. The little mouse crawled up onto his back then up onto the top of the cage.

            "See anything?" Steve asked, his tail lashing back and forth. He didn't want to shake the cage in cage he accidently hurt Tony.

            "Not really... this is a higher quality cat-cage than I've ever seen before," Tony said, and he sounded _amazed_. "I think I recognize this company, though I didn't realize that they made the cat-catching-cages for the pound. This is incredible though. Why don't all cages work like this?"

            "Because when you've been turned into a cat, you _can't get out_ ," Steve growled, shaking the cage once Tony got off.

            "There's a little light on," Tony repeated, slipping back into the cage. The only thing that Steve was really able to do was lay down and let Tony climb back up onto his back. "I don't think that I can get you out of this, Steve," Tony murmured, sounding almost regretful that he wasn't able to do anything to help. "

            "Don't worry about it," Steve comforted, settling down. "Just... stay close, okay? I can't protect you if you're not close, and... I don't know what's going to happen. It might be safer to tell you to just go back to the tower now, and come back for me later... I'll figure a way out of this, I know so. I don't want to put you in danger, Tony."

            "I don't want you to be in danger either," Tony snapped, moving through the cage so that he was face to face with Steve. "Did you ever think about that? _I_ don't want anything to happen to _you_ , either! I _hate_ how I can't get you out of here, Steve, I really do. If I could become human right now I _would_ , just to get you out of here..."

            "Hey," Steve murmured, nudging the tiny, angry mouse with his nose. "It'll be okay. If you're going to leave, now would probably be the best time. If you're going to stay, stay hidden in my fur if someone shows up. I won't let them hurt you."

            "I trust you," Tony whispered. Their eyes locked, and Steve knew that he was telling the truth. He felt honored, because he knew that Tony didn't trust many people. A closed smile spread across his face (since Steve knew cat teeth freaked him out right now). Tony seemed to relax and crawled forward into his fur. Steve purred. As long as he had Tony beside him right now, things weren't so bad.

            Steve wasn't sure what he would've done if Tony decided to head back to the tower as planned. He would've been so lonely, stuck in a cage that was far too advanced for catching cats off the street, all alone. He would've worried about Tony, wondering if he'd made it back safely or not. He'd never forgive himself if he found out that Tony got hurt on the way back to the tower by himself.

            "Once they move you from _this_ cage to some other cage," Tony murmured, yawning as he wrapped the dark fur around himself, "I'll be able to get you out. I know I will, once we're working with some lower-tech cages." Tony nuzzled up underneath Steve's chin. "We'll be back at the tower—together—soon enough. Who cares if it's five hours or five days anymore? As long as we both make it back to the tower, I'll be fine. Now, could you clean my fur? I feel dirty, but I'm _so lazy_ right now."

            Steve purred. "You're always too lazy to clean your own fur." He drew his tongue across the tiny mouse. "Thank you for not leaving," Steve whispered. "I don't like feeling... trapped."

            "Neither do I," Tony admitted. Steve rested his chin against his paw before slightly rubbing his cheek against Tony. "Hey," Tony murmured, shoving at him. "You're making me smell like you!"

            "Sorry," Steve said quickly, moving backward. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize..."

            But by then Tony was laughing and laughing, so Steve relaxed a little. "Cool it, fluffy. Cats have scent glands in their faces, and that's why you're leaving your scent on me. It's not really a problem though—in fact, if there are other animals at the place where they're going to take us, then having me smell exactly like you might be a good thing, because then they won't notice me whatsoever. That's a good thing. So actually, you should continue doing that."

            "Really?" Steve asked, unsure. But when Tony nodded, he nuzzled his face against the little mouse again.

            "Okay, that's enough," Tony said, crawling back up into Steve's fur. "Shh, I hear someone. I think someone's going to get this cage..." Steve felt his fur rising upon hearing the footsteps, and he made sure that Tony was well-hidden before he fluffed up his fur, drew back his lips and snarled at the human that showed up. (Steve was surprised that he was referring to people as 'humans'.) He didn't recognize the man, and he barely said two words as he picked up the cage with the large, hissing and growling cat in it.

            "Let me out of here!" Steve yowled at the man, knowing that he wouldn't be able to understand a thing. He then hissed, "Tony, stay down. Stay hidden, I don't want you to get hurt."

            "I'm hidden," Tony whispered. Steve licked his fur down over the mouse, making sure that he was hidden from sight.

 -x-

            "I smell mouse," one of the other caged cats growled. His cage was right above Steve's, and Steve was worried. What if, when Tony tried to unlock the cage, that cat grabbed him? "Which one of you has a mouse?"

            "I'm ready to bite that guy," Tony muttered quietly, curled up underneath Steve's chin.

            "What does it matter?" Steve growled at the other cat.

            "You've got it. You've got a mouse," the cat said, surprised. Steve looked up at the other cat, unimpressed, to find that it was staring down at him suspiciously. Steve lifted his head a little to let Tony crawl up onto his back, resting between his shoulder blades.

            "Mouse!" The cat yowled, trying to reach his paw down into Steve's cage. It wasn't working well, and the other cats in cages—there were two others, a loud she-cat and an old tomcat—started yelling at him to quit.

            "Why isn't it running away?" the she-cat questioned, eyes narrowing at them.

            "He's my friend," Steve murmured, watching the door. He was only half-paying attention to the cats, since there were people in the other room. Once it quieted down, he wanted to see if they were able to escape. "Don't even think about hurting him, because I _will_ kill you," Steve threatened, and he was a bit surprised that he wasn't lying. If any of them even tried to hurt Tony, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to hold himself back from hurting them.

            "If you don't hurt me, I might be able to help you all escape," Tony offered, and the she-cat smirked, looking almost impressed. The old cat sighed, and Steve couldn't help but feel bad for him. He didn't seem to have much of a will to live anymore. The cat above Steve's cage seemed to ponder the offer for a moment.

            "Why would you want to help us?" the cat asked. "I want to _kill you_. Why would you want to help me?"

            "Because if you stay here, you're going to die," Tony retorted, burying himself in Steve's fur once again when someone walked back into the room.

            "Shut up, stupid cats," the guy muttered, rattling one of the cages as he walked by. There was a clipboard in his hands, and he looked like he was checking the cages and making sure that they were all there. When he stopped in front of the old cat's cage, he tapped his clipboard. "Two more days, big guy. Two more days until your cage is empty."

            Steve glared at the man, and if looks could kill, that man would be dead on the ground. His fur was bristling, and Tony seemed to be worried about him, based on the way that the little mouse kept tugging at his fur. When the man stopped in front of his cage, Steve wasn't able to resist the urge to hiss at him. The growl and hiss escaped him, and Steve swiped his claws at the man.

            The guy jumped backwards, but then he shook the cage out of anger. Steve held the tiny mouse a little tighter so that he wasn't hurt.

            "I'm sorry," Steve whispered, and he wasn't able to breathe a sigh of relief until the man left. Tony climbed back up between his shoulder blades.

            "Let's see if I can get that latch undone," Tony murmured in his ear, and Steve had to quickly stop him.

            "Not until I'm sure that no one," he glared at the cat in the cage above them, "is going to hurt you."

            "I won't touch 'im," the cat muttered, though his bright green eyes were still watching Tony with interest. " _If_ you can get me out of this cage too. These bars hurt my paws, and I need some real food, not all this pellet stuff that they give us here."

            "Do you feel safe, Tony?" Steve murmured, and the tiny mouse climbed up onto his head.

            "As safe as I can feel while stuck like this," Tony said, scurrying over onto Steve's nose. "Lift me up, pal, and I'll unlock you."

            Steve carefully lifted his head as high as he could and let Tony get up to the latch. He waited until he heard the latch click, and he couldn't be happier when the little mouse hopped back down onto his shoulder. Steve tilted his head, licking at the mouse, a purr rising in his throat.

            "He really did it," the she-cat murmured, impressed.

            "Of course I did it," Tony scoffed, insulted. "I may look like a mouse, but I used to be a human. We both did."

            "Really?" the male cat said disbelievingly. "Prove it!"

            Steve pushed open the cage door, glancing over at where the workers had gone. He then jumped off the table down onto the floor and crossed over to where the other two cages were.

            "Hey!" the tomcat shouted, pacing behind the bars. "Don't forget about me! I didn't kill the rodent, you said that you'd let me out!"

            "Steve, we promised," Tony murmured, and Steve flicked his ears.

            "We will, I just think we should get these two out first," Steve murmured, hopping up to where the other two cages were. Steve lifted Tony up to undo the latch on the old cat's cage, then the she-cat's.

            "I'll help him down," the she-cat murmured, and she nudged Steve in the direction of the last cat. Sighing, Steve hurried back over to the loud tomcat.

            "If you even _try_ to hurt him," Steve growled, eyes narrowing at the cat in front of him. The loud cat just rolled his eyes and watched as Tony unlatched the cage.

            "You are one weird mouse," the tomcat murmured, smirking as he hopped down onto the ground. "Which way's the exit?"

            "That way," Tony murmured, tugging Steve's ears in the direction of the exit. Steve nodded and raced over, placing Tony onto the ground and death-glaring at the other cats so that they knew not to even go towards him. Opening the door wasn't that difficult, thankfully.

            "You're lucky you're not on the streets right now," the tomcat murmured to Tony, and Steve frowned when the cat licked his lips. Stalking back over to his friend, Steve knelt down and let the tiny mouse climb up onto his back.

            "If you feel threatened for whatever reason, tell me, and I'll chase any of them off," Steve growled, his protective instincts increasing tenfold. "I refuse to let _anything_ happen to you, Tony. At all. You mean too much to me."

            Tony was quiet for a moment, and it took Steve several seconds for him to realize what he just said. Eyes widening, Steve just walked forward, unable to see Tony's reaction.

            "I'm fine, Steve, really," Tony mumbled after a moment, but he didn't seem at all weirded out by Steve's choice of words, so Steve guessed that it was probably fine. Tony was his teammate, of course he'd be protective of him. His team meant everything to him. Maybe Tony wouldn't be able to see the other meaning behind those words.

            "Hey!" Steve then realized that he hadn't been paying attention to where the workers were, and they were _so close_...

            "Run!" Steve yowled, waiting for the workers to catch up with him some. "I'll distract them—get _out_ of here!"

            He didn't need to tell those ferals twice, because all three of them were gone before Steve could ever see where they went. "Over here," he shouted at the one employee that seemed to want to catch him. "Hold on," he whispered to Tony before taking off down the street, trying to get away from the man and not accidently hurt Tony. He just had to get a little rather away... and then there was a second employee, cursing and shouting at him.

            Steve didn't even know what direction he was heading in anymore, he just kept running.

            If he got caught, they might hurt Tony, and he couldn't let them hurt Tony. His little friend was his only thought as the streets rushed by. The concrete didn't hurt his paws because he couldn't even feel his paws anymore. His mind wasn't on the streets, or the pain. Just Tony. It was like he was the center of the universe, and Steve was just revolving around him.

            "Just hold on, Tony, just hold on," Steve murmured as he ran through the streets. By now he was pretty sure that the people had stopped following them, but he couldn't take the chance. He had to just get to the tower, and they'd be safe, and everything would be fine... Only problem was that they were _so far away_ from the tower now. _And to think we were so close,_ Steve thought, anger bubbling up inside.

            "I'm holding on," Tony shouted, and he was. The tiny mouse was clinging to his chest fur, holding on with all of his might so that Steve didn't have to carry the mouse in his mouth again.

            Steve raced down the street, watching as the people that he was avoiding suddenly started to disappear until he was running in a clear street. Skidding to a stop, Steve dodged out of the way of a large rock that he almost ran into. The streets here were _horrible_.

            "What's going on?" Tony asked, crawling up onto his shoulder.

            "Something happened here," Steve murmured, slinking over to the sidewalk. He narrowed his eyes, looking around. Something had _definitely_ happened here. That's when he noticed the robot parts scattered around not too far away in front of them.

            "Doom," they said at the same time. Steve ran forward, knowing that if a battle had just finished here, there was a good chance that his team was still around.

            "Hold on, hold on," Steve murmured, spotting Clint talking with a SHIELD agent not too far away.

            Seeing his teammate took a load off Steve's shoulders. From here on out, they wouldn't have to risk their life getting away from a dog, or a pound, they wouldn't be attacked by other street animals, or be cautious about getting hit by a car. From here on out, they just had to follow the team home and get turned back. He could suddenly feel how tired his legs were, how much he wanted to just lay down for a _long_ time.

            "Clint," Steve murmured, padding up before rubbing his flank against his teammate's ankle.

            "Go on, shoo kitty," Clint said, not even glancing at him. He was telling the SHIELD agent about what happened, and table the battle that had just went on. Steve sighed, not wanting to keep walking.

            "Maybe Bruce will understand what's going on," Tony whispered in his ear.

            "Yeah," Steve murmured, trudging over towards where Bruce and Natasha were. He only made it a few steps away when suddenly Clint gasped, said something to the agent and raced over, lifting him up a _lot_ faster than Steve had been expecting.

            Fur ruffling, it took all Steve had to keep himself from unsheathing his claws and digging him into Clint's arm. There was a wide grin on Clint's face. "Steve?"

            He nodded, and Clint was suddenly hugging him _way_ too tight. Steve curled around Tony to keep him from being crushed.

            "We've been _looking_ for you guys for _days_ now!" Clint said, sounding way too happy. "Wait... where's Tony?"

            Then Clint was holding him with his hands under his front arms again. "Tony," Steve mumbled, trying to twist himself in Clint's hands again. He huffed out a laugh when Tony climbed up onto his head. The smile on Clint's face wavered before growing and morphing into a smirk, then he started all-out laughing. Steve wordlessly meowed and kicked his hind legs in the air, wanting to get out of Clint's grip.

            "This is _gold_ ," Clint laughed. He wrapped an arm underneath Steve, letting the cat relax against his chest. Steve could feel it when Tony hopped off of him and up onto Clint's shoulder.

            "Guys!" Clint shouted, and Steve flattened his ears against his head. "Guys, they found their way back to us!" Bruce and Natasha gathered around them, and somewhere along the line Steve got passed over to Natasha, who was doing a _very_ good job at scratching behind his ears.

            "He's so tiny," Clint chuckled. "I guess that's what he meant by 'if Steve doesn't kill Tony'. Good thing that they found us."

            "Let's get them home, okay?" Bruce suggested. "The sooner they're back to normal, the better."

            "Tony?" Steve called out quietly, and it was only moments before the little mouse was on his shoulders again.

            "I'm here," Tony said quickly, curling up on his shoulders. "I'm here. I'm going to stay here with you, okay? You look exhausted."

            "Feel pretty tired," Steve purred. Once the purring started, though, it wouldn't end, because Natasha kept stroking his fur, and eventually Steve drifted off.

 -x-

            "I need as many pictures as possible," Clint laughed. Tony just rolled his eyes and watched his teammates. He wasn't surprised that Steve was tired, especially since he'd had so much trouble sleeping lately.

            "I'm not sure you're going to be _able_ to tease Tony," Bruce pointed out. "The moment you try, Steve's going to swoop in and save him."

            Clint apparently decided to take that as a challenge. The first thing he did was try to reach over and pick Tony up, but of course he was having none of that. He hated being reminded of how tiny he was, and standing next to Steve was bad enough. Now that he was a tiny mouse around a bunch of humans, he felt even smaller, if that was possible.

            "Steve," Tony squeaked, diving for the feline. Steve was instantly alert again, and Tony was a bit surprised to suddenly have a strong cat paw grabbing him and pulling him up against Steve's chest. Tony was barely able to push back the fur so that he wouldn't suffocate when Steve wordlessly hissed, _very_ cat-like, at Clint, who seemed to take the hint as he backed off.

            "Sorry," Steve murmured, letting go of him. "Might want to stick near me, huh? Clint won't be able to tease you about this forever... something'll happen next week that'll change the subject."

            "Mind if I just stay here?" Tony asked, snuggling back up against his fur. Steve purred and rested his head back down onto Natasha's leg. She had insisted, after all, that she carry them because Clint couldn't be trusted and Bruce might want to experiment (for _science_ ). Tony didn't really mind though because Natasha was being surprisingly gentle with them. (He guessed that it probably had something to do with the fact that they were both small, cute animals at the moment.)

            "Just stay close to me or Natasha... she probably won't tease you that bad," Steve purred, settling down again. "If anything, she'll tease you after we turn back." Steve turned away from him, yawning, before he pressed his nose against the tiny mouse. "But until then, I'll keep you safe. Get down for a moment."

            Tony complied, confused, before Steve lifted his head and growled at Clint again, making the archer jump backward. Tony chuckled, snuggling into Steve's fur. He almost didn't want this to ever end...


	4. Part 4

            "Steve," someone said, causing Steve to drift back into consciousness. He purred and yawned, surprised to find a soft _couch_ underneath him. Steve stretched out, blinking his eyes open to find Tony, still a mouse, sitting right in front of him. Flashing a smile at his friend, Steve forced himself to sit up.

            "You okay? You seem a lot sleepier than you should," Tony said, crossing his tiny arms across his chest. Steve rolled his eyes and yawned again, lying down and curling up around his teammate.

            "Too much walking, too little sleeping," Steve mumbled, purring when Tony started stroking at the fur under his chin. "Wanna sleep now. We're home... I can't believe we're home."

            "I know, it doesn't seem real after all we've been through," Tony said with a chuckle. "We've faced all kinds of stuff, and we've made it through. We deserve to be home. And when you're ready, we can be human again. Bruce has the stuff to turn us back."

            Steve shook his head. "Whenever you want to turn back you can. I..." Steve glanced away, embarrassed. "I want to stay like this... a little longer. I just... I'm tired. I want to sleep it off first. The team doesn't seem to care about having a cat on their lap, so, uh... I'm going to stay like this just a little longer."

            "You're serious?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh my God, you _are_ serious. Okay. Well I'm going to be human again, because not having thumbs is driving me crazy. If you want to just stay a cat for a while, be my guest. I'm going to go find someone who can turn me back to normal, but then I'll be back." Steve watched as Tony went to go climb off of the couch. Steve quickly jumped up, stopping Tony before he could jump.

            "We didn't come all this way for you to get squished _now_ ," Steve muttered, yawning. It felt so _normal_ for the little mouse to climb up onto his shoulders. "I'll find someone. Just," he paused to yawn, "give me a moment, okay?"

            "Take your time," Tony said, snuggling down into his fur. "I... I think I'm going to miss this a little."

            "Me too," Steve admitted. The hallways with the carpet felt _so nice_ to his paws, much better than concrete. "It's been kinda nice having you be the little angel on my shoulder for the past few days." _I'm going to miss spending my nights with you._ "I hope we can remain good friends."

            "Yes," Tony said. "After the past few days, I'd be surprised if things just... went back to the way that they used to be. That wasn't... I'd like it if we could be friends. I really would. Because we _were_ friends before, but... not really good until now." Tony patted his shoulder before climbing up onto his head. "It's going to be weird for a few days... I won't be tiny enough to sit on your shoulder anymore. I won't need to ride on your back. But hey, at least you can stop worrying about rat poison."

            Steve chuckled. "You're right about that. Hold on," Steve murmured before he hopped up onto the kitchen table.

            "Hey Steve, Tony," Bruce said, smiling. "You two ready to be human again?"

            Steve laid down, letting the little mouse off his back. Tony scurried over to Bruce's hand, nodding.

            "Good. I'll grab the antidote," Bruce said, patting Tony's hand with a finger before he left to grab the antidote.

            "I'll stay here with you until you're human again," Steve murmured, resting his head on the table. "Then I'm going back to the couch."

            "Okay Tony, Steve, get ready," Bruce said as he brought the little vials of antidote over to the table. "This needs to be ingested, so come here."

            Steve nudged Tony over towards the scientist. "You can tell 'im when you're human again."

            "Tony first?" Bruce asked, and the tiny mouse hopped up onto his hand. Steve watched as Bruce placed Tony down onto the ground before giving him the antidote. Within seconds a very-human Tony was standing in front of Bruce. Steve smiled, purring. There was a wide grin on Tony's face as he held his hands in front of his face and bent his fingers, laughing about being able to _do_ that again.

            "Steve," Tony said joyfully, his grin as bright as ever. Steve was a little surprised when he was suddenly being picked up and hugged, but he quickly relaxed against Tony and purred loud enough that he knew Tony would hear him.

            "Tony, you're going to have to bring him over here if you want him to turn back anytime soon," Steve heard Bruce say, but he just sighed and relaxed in Tony's arms. He couldn't stop the loud purring when Tony started scratching behind his ears.

            "He's not ready to turn back yet," Tony said, almost matter-of-factly. "He's tired. Keeping me safe the whole time and bringing me home took a toll on poor kitty-Cap. He didn't think the team would mind having a cat sleeping on someone's lap for a while. Don't worry, he'd let you know if I was lying."

            "I would," Steve mumbled, butting his head against Tony's hand. God, his human hands felt even better than his mouse paws did. Steve hoped that Tony didn't mind this, but judging by the smile on his face, he didn't care.

            "Okay," Bruce decided, though he sounded a little unsure. "I guess... get me when you're ready to turn back, Steve."

            "I will," Steve purred, knowing that no one could understand a word that he was saying.

            "Let's get you back to the living room," Tony murmured, carrying him back over to the couch.

            Steve instantly felt so much colder when he was sitting alone on the sofa, his tail curled around his nose. Perhaps he shouldn't have been expecting more. They'd only been keeping each other safe for the past few days, but Steve knew that it was just something that teammates did for one another. He would've kept any of his teammates alive, had it been someone else instead of Tony.

            "Mind if I sit here with you?" Tony asked, sounding _nervous_. Steve frowned. What did he have to be nervous about? They'd just spent the past few nights curled up together, trying to keep warm and safe. Steve breathed out a purr, eyes still closed. He could feel it when the couch dipped and Tony sat down.

            Steve opened his eyes and gazed over at him. He could feel Tony's eyes on him, and lo and behold, Tony was staring at him, too.

            "You know, uh... everyone... likes cats on their laps," Tony said, sounding way too uneasy. It was strange, and Steve couldn't help but tilt his head and stare at Tony. "If you wanted to."

            Steve smirked, huffing out a laugh before he wandered over to Tony, plopping down onto his lap.

            "Mind if I... pet you?" Tony asked. Steve started purring when Tony's fingers met his back and behind his ears. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to tell Tony exactly how good it felt to be petted. Maybe the purr that rumbled in his throat was enough to tell Tony how happy he was right now.

 -x-

            "So is there a reason why he doesn't want to turn back yet?" Bruce asked, taking a seat beside Tony. The genius glanced over at him for a moment before focusing back on the cat that was sleeping on his lap. The only reason that Tony knew he was asleep was because his purring faded into a quiet snoring.

            "He was tired. He wanted to sleep first before he turned back, so at least he could be around someone instead of being alone in his bedroom," Tony said, scratching behind the cat's ears. Steve's paws twitched, and his lips parted with a soft _meow_. Tony smiled down at the cat.

            "Was that the only reason?" Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow. "It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're both idoits who have been crushing on each other for months now, right?"

            Tony's mouth dropped open, and he quickly shook his head. "No!" Tony whispered angrily. "No, you're wrong. That's definitely not going on. You've got _no idea_ , Bruce—why would you even _think_ that? Steve's straighter than an _arrow_ —"

            "You're not denying that _you've_ been secretly, or rather _not_ so secretly, crushing on him for months," Bruce pointed out, a smirk on his face.

            "Shh!" Tony hissed. "I am literally _holding_ him right now, I don't want him to _hear you!_ He was raised in the _thirties_ , Bruce, if you say something like that... He's my _friend_ , and we're just starting to be good friends without constantly fighting! I can't ruin something that just started. I can't. So... _shh_. Don't mention it, at _all_."

            "Aww, you _do_ care," Bruce teased, placing the antidote down onto the coffee table next to Tony. "I'll leave this here for when he _is_ ready to turn back, okay? And just so you know..." Bruce leaned forward, an uncharacteristically _sneaky_ grin on his face. "...I told Jarvis to keep the lab locked down until you had a serious heart-to-heart with Steve. There's nowhere to hide, Tony."

            Before Tony was even able to answer, Bruce was gone, ignoring Tony when he called after him. Tony sighed, glancing down at Steve, who was still somehow fast asleep. Just when they were really starting to get along, he was apparently going to have to be the one to ruin it. Maybe Steve wouldn't hate him for the crush... maybe they'd still be friends...

 -x-

            A purr rose in Steve's throat when he woke up to Tony's fingers running gently through his fur. Steve yawned and stretched out, feeling... lazy. It was odd—he hadn't felt like this in a long time. But as a cat, the tired laziness inside him just seemed a little too powerful to resist. He was a little shocked when a demanding mew escaped his lips. He grabbed for Tony's hand when the man stopped petting him.

            "Okay, okay, I'll continue," Tony chuckled, and Steve was able to go back to purring. "A little while ago Bruce brought the antidote to me, so whenever you're ready to turn back... I've got it."

            Steve nodded to show that he'd heard. Truth be told, he was a bit scared of turning back. They'd gotten along _so well_ when cursed, but there was a chance that once life went back to normal, they'd fall into the same routines of yelling at one another again. Steve didn't want that to happen, so he decided that maybe he should just... stay as a cat for a little longer. Just a little, right? He couldn't stay like this forever, because his team needed him, and he _loved_ being human. Being a cat still felt strange and _wrong_ , but it felt right when Tony was petting him.

            "There's something I need to tell you," Steve mumbled quietly, glancing over at Tony. "I'm betraying your friendship, Tony. You have no idea about the crush I've had on you for... for _so long_ , and I just continue to let you pet me... If you _knew_..."

            "Steve... I can't understand you when you're a cat," Tony whispered, and Steve smirked.

            "I know," Steve said, sighing. "That's why I'm saying it now."

            He stood up and stretched, glancing over at the antidote. Better quit delaying the inevitable.

            "Ready?" Tony asked, and Steve nodded before he hopped down onto the ground and wandered a few steps away from the couch before turning to face Tony. Tony grabbed the antidote and knelt down next to him, opening it up before offering it to Steve. The cat carefully sniffed at the antidote, wrinkling his nose at the bitter scent. Carefully lapping at the antidote, Steve immediately felt the effects. He stumbled backward as he felt himself start to grow, to change, until he was sitting on the ground, completely human again.

            "It's a weird feeling, isn't it?" Tony laughed, offering him a hand to pull him up.

            "Kinda makes me dizzy," Steve mumbled, re-finding his center of gravity. "...We're home. We're home, and we're _human_ again..." Steve couldn't stop the sudden urge to hug Tony, and while his face turned bright red, Tony didn't seem to mind at all.

            "Yep, home," Tony said, but there was something off about the way that he said that. "You know what I could use right now? A sandwich. Something not fishy. And I'm going to eat all the cheese I can because it's _not_ filled with rat poison here."

            Steve chuckled and followed Tony over to the kitchen. Watching him now, eye to eye instead of having to look down at him, seemed strange. He had gotten used to being able to protect Tony whenever he was able to. He had gotten used to Tony relying on him to check the food so that he wouldn't get poisoned. But don't get him wrong—Steve was _so thankful_ that nothing here was going to poison Tony, and he wouldn't need to be constantly protected from everything, but...  It was weird, knowing that Tony didn't _need_ him anymore. On the streets, Tony needed him to be able to survive. But now? They would just go back to being friends again. And it shouldn't have bothered him, but it did.

            "Coffee and sandwiches," Tony murmured, starting up a pot of coffee. Steve headed over to the fridge, handing Tony anything that he asked for. The wide grin on Tony's face for the rest of the day was worth the possibility of never being that close again.

 -x-

            It wasn't like he was avoiding his talk with Steve. Definitely not. It was just... while they sat down for lunch, they chatted happily and easily, and the thought of ruining their fragile friendship kept creeping back into his mind. He was not going to be the reason why they weren't friends anymore. Not when they were so happy right now!

            "Glad to see you two are both back to normal," Bruce commented when he walked into the room. Tony, who hadn't heard him walk in, nearly jumped out of his skin. Lucky for him, Steve was standing close enough to catch the coffee mug before it could crash down onto the floor.

            "Don't scare me like that," Tony muttered, clutching the mug close.

            "I figured it was probably time to join the real world again," Steve said, shrugging. "Food definitely tastes better when it's not coming out of a trash can."

            "You were a cat, you could've... hunted..." Bruce said, but then seemed to realize what he was saying.

            "I could've," Steve said, shrugging. He glanced over at Tony, and Tony just continued staring at his coffee. He was _so thankful_ that Steve hadn't tried hunting after what almost happened. "When I was, uh, still a cat, I tried hunting," Steve admitted to Bruce. "I almost ended up killing Tony... after that, I was just worried that if I tried again, it would end up being one of the other Avengers. I didn't want to kill anyone."

            "Oh. You okay, Tony?" Bruce asked.

            "Fine," Tony said far too quickly. "Steve kept me safe the entire time... didn't let anything else try to kill me. Don't worry about it, we already discussed stuff like that."

            "Really? So what _haven't_ you discussed yet?" Bruce asked, and Tony glared at him. Steve seemed clueless as to what he was implying.

            "Many things," Tony muttered. "So how come you guys never found us? Were you just waiting for us to get back or what?"

            "We searched for you guys!" Clint said as he walked into the room, apparently having heard the last sentence. "We searched for you guys a _lot!_ But we had no idea what we were looking for, so finding you guys was a little impossible. Good thing you guys ran into us after that DoomBot battle."

            "You didn't recognize us," Steve accused, crossing his arms across his chest.

            "You were a cat!" Clint shot back. "How could I recognize you? We had no idea what you guys might look like."

            "I walked _right up to you,_ " Steve said.

            "What other cat walks up to _you_ , birdbrain?" Tony laughed. "Just next time, _please_ don't look for us only during the day... that's when there's so many people outside who apparently like to kick cats. We could only really travel at nighttime."

            "Makes sense," Clint said, shrugging.

            "Oh, and next time... just meet us at Central Park or something... If any animals try to communicate with you while your teammates are missing, they're not just animals. Probably," Tony said. "Just to make things easier, okay?"

            "You're planning on this happening again?"

 -x-

            It was really cold that night. He still hadn't been to the lab, and he still hadn't talked with Steve. And somehow, he just couldn't seem to feel warm in his own bed that night. Tony had already gotten Jarvis to turn the heat up, but his bed seemed too cold, and the room seemed too quiet, and the covers seemed too rough.

            Tony guessed that was just because he was used to warm, soft fur and a gentle purring noise, mirroring a heartbeat. And now he didn't have that anymore.

            "Jarvis, is Steve asleep?" Tony asked, staring blankly at the ceiling.

            "Captain Rogers is still awake," Jarvis confirmed. "He's in the living room with the television on. He appeared distressed upon waking around half an hour ago, and he's been in the living room since."

            "Really?" Tony asked, worry pulsing through him. Was Steve having those nightmares again? He was supposed to _talk_ with someone about that! Tony sighed and rolled out of bed. "Apparently I'm going to be the one who chases away Cap's nightmares."

            It wasn't like he _hurried_ over to the living room as fast as he could, but he definitely didn't take his time. "Hey Steve," Tony said as he wandered into the living room. Steve glanced over sleepily at him, smiling. "So I heard that you were having some trouble sleeping."

            A look of guilt crossed Steve's face. "Yeah," he admitted quietly. "But I thought you were asleep, and I didn't want to wake you..."

            "You could've asked Jarvis, you would've learned that I've been lying awake for a _long_ time now," Tony said, plopping down onto the couch beside him. "Too quiet, too cold, you know."

            Steve nodded. "Feels good to be home," Steve whispered, sighing, "but it also feels weird. I've been so used to sleeping on the concrete this whole time."

            "I've been used to a cat's fur and purring," Tony said, snuggling up against Steve's side. The blond stiffened for a moment, but then he relaxed and put an arm around Tony's shoulders.

            "I miss being able to purr," Steve admitted. "And a tail—I got so used to having a tail that now it's weird without it."

            "I know... and my hearing and sense of smell are _way_ duller," Tony said, taking the TV remote from Steve so that he could change it to a better channel. "I could do without the tail. But I kinda miss the ears."

            "Me too," Steve laughed. "And my tongue was so rough as a cat that now it's so... _weird_ again. Have you felt colder without the fur?"

            "So much colder," Tony replied. "But it wasn't just my fur—it was your fur too. You had enough fur for _three_ cats." Tony sighed, feeling completely content, leaning against Steve and sharing this moment. "So you don't want to talk about it?"

            "It helps when I'm not alone... so, uh, thanks," Steve murmured. "Interesting choice of movie. Sci-fi?"

            "Please tell me you're kidding and you _have_ seen this by now," Tony gasped. "Star Wars is a _classic_. It's six movies long so far—"

            "Six?"

            "They're making a seventh."

            "So it's that good then, huh?"

            "Yep. Don't move a muscle, Capsicle, because we're watching all of the movies _right now_ until we both fall back asleep. Got it, soldier?"

            "Yes sir," Steve chuckled.

 -x-

            Tony awoke to a light snoring noise and something warm pressed against him. For a moment he thought they were back out on the streets again, but then he realized that no, it was just the super-soldier who was currently asleep and laying partially on top of him. He smiled softly. Steve looked so peaceful when he was asleep, and Tony didn't want to wake him. He knew that Steve hadn't been sleeping well in a long time, so getting some extra sleep right now would be really good for him. Plus, he was like a heater, and Tony was still freezing.

            If Steve woke up _right now_ , Tony knew that he'd have to tell Steve how he felt. His eyes would say it all, and then he'd just have to explain. He'd spill his heart out for the first time _ever_ , and he'd be rejected. He couldn't handle constantly getting rejected by people.

            But no, Steve probably wouldn't reject him. He'd definitely be disgusted, and Tony could just imagine the disgusted horror that would cross his face for a split second. He would mask it, Tony knew so, under a nonchalant, 'everything's alright' expression, but it would remain just under his skin, still shining in his eyes. You couldn't hide emotion in your eyes. Steve would then proceed to lecture him on how they're friends, and they should just worry about starting and maintaining their fragile friendship.

            He wouldn't flat out _reject_ Tony, but it would still be a rejection.

            Tony wasn't sure he could handle that from Steve, so he held his tongue and just admired how beautiful Steve looked when he was asleep.

            Bruce was right—he'd have to tell Steve in time, but there was no way that said 'time' would be anytime _soon_.

            Sighing, Tony slid out from underneath Steve, making sure that he didn't accidently wake the super-soldier. It wouldn't be fair to wake him now, not while he was already so exhausted. Tony couldn't resist it. He leaned down, pressing a quick, gentle kiss to Steve's forehead.

            Then he fled the room. He knew that there were far too many times when Bruce, or Pepper, or _someone_ would get Jarvis to lock him out of his lab. That's why Tony created another room, one that wasn't quite a lab but would let him do some tinkering when he couldn't be in the lab. Lots of tools to keep him entertained until he could build up the courage to talk with Steve.

            Might take a few days.

            Or weeks.

 -x-

            When Steve opened his eyes, he was a little surprised to find that he was all alone in the living room. A frown settled on his face, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. He was so happy that Tony came and sat up with him last night... he hadn't realized that Tony would eventually leave. Well, he _knew_ that he'd leave, he just hoped that it wasn't when he was asleep. Was it really _that_ awkward being around him now, even though they'd been sleeping side by side for the past several days?

            Steve sighed and sat up, looking around. No one was in the living room, he was all alone.

            Upon asking Jarvis where Tony was, he was a little surprised to find that he wasn't in his lab, instead in a room that Steve had never been to before. (It was a big place, he doubted that he'd even been in _half_ of the rooms in the tower that were occupied by the Avengers.)

            He stood outside for a moment, watching Tony through a small window in the door. Maybe if he just spoke with him... maybe then it would be better. Maybe _then_ Tony wouldn't be so awkward around him right now.

            Knocking lightly at the door, he waited for a, "come in," before pushing it open, glancing around. It looked like the lab, but a lot smaller, and with a _lot_ less technology. It looked like it might've been a backup, in case his lab exploded or something and he needed a day or two for repairs. Why was Tony here? Had something happened in the lab? Was anyone hurt? Tony looked over at him expectantly, removing his safety goggles.

            "So... I wanted to ask you something," Steve murmured, looking shyly down at the ground. There was something about being so close to Tony that just made him so... so _nervous_ , like he wasn't able to talk. When Tony turned around and glanced at him, and Steve felt his heart skip a beat.

            "Shoot, Cap," Tony said, placing his wrench down onto the table. There was a bit of sweat and grease on his face, and Steve couldn't deny that he liked the way it looked on Tony. When he still didn't say anything for several seconds, Tony added, "What'cha need?"

            "I... I wanted to talk to you about the past couple of days," Steve began, unsure of what he should be trying to say to Tony. What was there really that he could say? They both wanted to be friends still, that's what they'd said before, but... Steve bit his lip. He didn't want to just 'be friends' with Tony, and he wasn't quite sure how to say that.

            "What about them? It was strange, yes, and look—we're home again! And we're both human, and things are good," Tony said, and apparently he wasn't able to see how nervous Steve was. "And you _know_ that I'm going to try harder to not argue with you. What's the problem?"

            "There is no problem," Steve said quickly, rubbing his hands together. Maybe he had read Tony wrong before, but he really had a feeling that they were on the same page. "I just... I wanted to say... there was, you know..."

            "Just spit it _out_ , Steve," Tony laughed, standing up so face him more eye-to-eye.

            "I want to go have that bath now," Steve said quickly.

            Tony stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open, absolutely silent. This was a bad idea, he should've known that this was a bad idea! When was it ever good to actually _admit_ your feelings? Steve's blood ran cold, and fear pulsed through him. His words got tangled in his throat, and Steve took a step backward, willing his brain to start working again. And _finally_ , he found his voice.

            "Sorry, no, that wasn't supposed to... I need to leave," Steve gasped out as quickly as possible as he turned to flee, internally cursing himself for being so _stupid_ and not thinking that Tony didn't like him _like that_... He'd only ever heard of love scandals with Tony and _women_ , after all, so why should he have even _thought_ that Tony would like him as more than a teammate?

            "No, stop," Tony called after him, and Steve's feet froze when Tony grabbed his arm. Still cursing himself internally, Steve turned around to face his teammate, knowing that there had to be shame on his face. Tony would see that, and then he wouldn't even _want_ to be Steve's _friend_ anymore.

            "I'm sorry," Steve said quickly. "I really—you suggested it before, I must've read you wrong—"

            "Just stop talking for a second, okay?" Tony asked quietly, and Steve was a bit surprised at how gentle his voice was. "And I thought _I_ had a rambling problem. But that, that was _bad_ , Steve—"

            "I just—"

            "Nuh unh, I'm still talking. No interrupting," Tony said quickly, pressing a finger to Steve's lips. He could feel his cheeks warm up, and could only guess at the shade of red they turned. Tony's smirk only made it worse. "Okay," Tony continued, thankfully removing his finger. Steve could breathe again. "So I did say that. I did mention something vaguely about sharing a bath together to help quell our water phobias. But you rejected that idea _right away_ —"

            "I did not! You backtracked and started swearing, talking about how you didn't mean for it to sound anything other than innocent," Steve pointed out, refinding his confidence. "What _I_ was asking you was in no ways innocent. At all."

            "Really?" Tony asked, and for a change _he_ was the one who looked flustered. "But you're the straightest guy I know."

            Steve chuckled. "I don't know where you've been for the past several months, but..." Steve shrugged. "I was actually really happy about getting a chance to snuggle with you for a while. I'd completely understand if you don't want to be friends anymore—friends aren't supposed to feel that way towards other friends, and we _just_ started being friends again—"

            "Just _stop_ talking, Cap. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about," Tony murmured, snaking forward. Before Steve could even figure out what Tony was about to do, the genius's lips were pressed against his, and he couldn't help it as he leaned forward and his eyes fluttered shut.

            His brain seemed to shut off for several seconds, while his feet stayed firmly planted in place. Tony's hands seemed to find their way to Steve's hips, and it was quite a while after Tony had backed off before Steve was able to speak again.

            "What... why did...?" If that could count as speaking.

            "I kissed you," Tony said matter-of-factly, folding his hands across his chest. "But you don't look like you seem to care, do you?"

            "I do care," Steve said quickly, and he took a step forward. "I care very much—I thought that you... You were with Pepper, and other _women_ , but..."

            "I've had my fair share of men, too. Believe me, the reason that I wasn't completely chasing after you was because I thought that America's Golden Boy, famously in love with the beautiful Agent Carter, wasn't into men," Tony said, patting Steve's shoulder. Steve smiled when he thought about Peggy.

            "I definitely had a crush on her," Steve murmured. "And if things were different... if I didn't go down in that plane... I probably would've married her. But she had a life, she was happy, and I'm happy for her. But it..." Steve took a deep breath. "It feels like more than a crush with you."

            "Really? Good. I really like you too," Tony said, grinning. "So it's pretty mutual then, hmm? Don't be surprised if I steal more of those kisses quite frequently. Apparently I should've been kissing you instead of arguing with you for a _long_ time now. I'm planning on making up for lost time here, Steve."

            "I know a way that we can make up for lost time," Steve said, a slow grin spreading across his face. "It includes that huge tub that's in your master suite upstairs."

            "You've been scoping out my master suite?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like a plan to me."


End file.
